UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

IN 

CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    ■    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
DALLAS    •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  ■  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS 


IN 


CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 


BY 


FREDERIC  AUSTIN  OGG,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF  POLITICAL   SCIENCE   IN  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 


Nefco  2f0tk 

THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1927 

AS  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1912, 
By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  September,  1912- 


NorfaooS  $rf88 

J.  S.  Cushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


345 


FOREWORD 

In  this  little  volume  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  gathel 
up  and  to  explain  with  succinctness  those  aspects  of  Euro- 
pean social  development  since  the  later  eighteenth  century 
which  by  common  acceptation  seem  to  possess  enduring  sig- 
nificance. The  subject  is  as  limitless  as  it  is  inviting,  and 
in  the  present  survey  of  it  many  things  of  substantial  impor- 
tance have,  of  necessity,  been  passed  with  the  barest  allusion, 
or,  at  the  most,  with  an  exposition  which  is  not  more  than 
introductory.  Not  a  few  topics  of  interest,  I  am  well  aware, 
have  failed  so  much  as  to  be  mentioned.  Effort  has  been 
made,  however,  to  lay  emphasis  upon  fundamentals  and  to 
make  clear  at  least  some  of  the  principal  developments  by 
which,  within  the  past  hundred  and  twenty-five  years,  the 
state  of  European  society  has  been  made  what  it  now  is. 
The  reader  who  may  desire  to  pursue  further  any  of  the  sub- 
jects here  touched  upon  is  referred  to  a  selected  bibliography 
which  appears  at  the  close.  In  the  chapters  which  are  con- 
cerned with  the  growth  of  popular  political  institutions  I  have 
utilized  a  number  of  passages  from  a  forthcoming  volume 
entitled  The  Governments  of  Europe. 

FREDERIC  AUSTIN  OGG. 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts, 
April  io,  1912. 


CONTENTS 


FAGS 

Foreword v 

CHAPTER 

I.    Points  of  View I 

II.  The  Eighteenth  Century  Background        ...  5 

III.  The  Old  Regime  in  France 15 

IV.  The  Revolution  in  France 30 

V.    Napoleon  and  the  New  Regime 46 

VI.  The  Transformation  of  English  Agriculture    .        .  62 

VII.  The  Industrial  Revolution  in  England     ...  83 

VIII.  Economic  Changes  on  the  Continent  ....  100 

IX.  Political  Reform  in  England  to  1832        .        .        .125 

X.  The  Growth  of  English  Democracy   ....  139 

XL  Popular    Government   in    Germany   and    Northern 

Europe 160 

XII.  Popular  Government  in  the  Romance  Countries      .  174, 

XIII.  Popular  Government  in  Eastern  Europe    .        .        .188 

XIV.  The  Rule  of  the  People  in  Switzerland  .        .        .  200 
XV.    Public  Protection  of  Labor 213 

XVI.    The  Care  of  the  Poor 227 

XVII.     Germany  and  the  Common  Man 246 

XVIII.    The  Spread  of  Social  Insurance 264 

XIX.    The  Organization  of  Labor 293 

XX.    Wages  and  Savings 308 

XXI.    Education 324 

XXII.  The  Growth  of  Socialism     ......  337 

Bibliography  ...» 361 


vii 


SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CON- 
TEMPORARY EUROPE 


CHAPTER  I 

POINTS  OF  VIEW 

That  the  European  world  of  to-day  is  fundamentally 
unlike  the  European  world  of  St.  Francis  and  of  Frederick 
Barbarossa,  and  even  that  of  Martin  Luther  and  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  is  a  sufficiently  familiar  fact.  How  enormous  a 
proportion  of  the  changes  by  which  this  difference  has  been 
brought  about  has  fallen  within  a  comparatively  recent 
period  —  within  the  past  hundred  or  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  years  —  is  not  so  commonly  understood.  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  and  far  into  the  nineteenth,  even  the  most 
advanced  of  European  countries  presented  aspects,  especially 
on  the  side  of  social  and  industrial  economy,  that  were  es- 
sentially mediaeval,  and  many  indeed  of  the  transitions  and 
readjustments  by  which  the  life  of  Europe,  as  that  of  all  por- 
tions of  the  civilized  world,  has  been  made  what  it  is  to-day 
have  fallen  within  the  memory  of  men  still  living.  The 
eighteenth  century  was  itself  an  era  of  remarkable  change. 
Indeed,  the  scope  of  eighteenth  century  speculation  and  in- 
vention is  only  beginning  adequately  to  be  recognized.  It 
remained,  however,  for  the  nineteenth  to  carry  forward  with 
greatly  accelerated  speed,  and  in  entirely  new  directions,  the 
transformations  that  had  been  begun,  and  to  work  out  con- 
clusive answers  to  scores  of  problems  which  in  the  earlier 
period  had  been  but  dimly  discerned. 

When  one  undertakes  a  comparison  of  the  Europe  of 
George  III.  and  of  Louis  XVI.  with  the  Europe  of  George  V. 


2        SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

and  of  William  II.  the  differences  which  are  likely  to  impress 
themselves  first  of  all  are  those  that  relate  to  the  number, 
extent,  organization,  and  grouping  of  nations.  Within  the 
space  of  a  century  and  a  quarter  two  great  states,  the  Ger- 
man Empire  and  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  have  been  built  up 
from  autonomous  and  discordant  political  elements ;  Austria, 
ejected  from  the  German  federation,  has  become  an  indepen- 
dent nation  and,  in  conjunction  with  Hungary,  a  power  of  the 
first  rank;  France  has  been  brought  from  absolutism  to 
republicanism;  Belgium  has  been  converted  from  a  depend- 
ency of  Austria  into  a  sovereign  nation ;  the  three  Scandina- 
vian states,  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway,  have  finally, 
in  our  own  day,  become  entirely  disassociated;  and  in  the 
southeast  the  rule  of  the  Turk  has  been  vastly  restricted, 
while  upon  the  soil  which  he  once  possessed  there  has  sprung 
up  a  cluster  of  small  but  promising  and  not  unimportant 
states. 

After  all,  however,  these  are  only  a  few  of  the  changes  by 
which,  within  the  period  mentioned,  the  European  world  has 
been  reconstituted.  Other  changes  of  divers  sorts  have  con- 
tributed much  more  directly  to  that  amelioration  of  social 
conditions  which  comprises  perhaps  the  nineteenth  century's 
principal  claim  to  distinction.  A  fundamental  prerequisite 
of  substantial  progress  must  always  be  the  growth  of  inde- 
pendent, compact,  and  powerful  states,  but  all  history  goes 
to  show  that  by  such  development  alone  the  lot  of  men  is  not 
of  necessity  much  improved.  The  changes  by  which  the 
past  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  have  been  given  charac- 
ter are  preeminently  social,  intellectual,  legal,  and  indus- 
trial —  the  breaking-down  of  the  barriers  which  once  sepa- 
rated classes  of  men,  the  abolition  of  privilege,  the  extension 
of  political  power  to  the  masses,  the  establishment  of  equality 
before  the  law,  the  upbuilding  of  popular  education,  the 
freeing  of  thought  and  of  the  press,  the  liberating  of  religious 
opinion,  the  application  of  scientific  discovery  to  the  problems 


POINTS  OF  VIEW  3 

of  human  existence,  the  invention  of  machinery  and  the  in- 
troduction of  the  use  of  steam-power,  the  placing  of  public 
safeguards  about  the  conditions  of  labor,  the  extension  and 
re-adaptation  of  philanthropy,  the  provision  of  agencies  for 
the  care  of  the  people's  savings,  the  establishment  of  systems 
of  insurance  against  sickness,  unemployment,  and  old  age, 
and  a  multiplicity  of  other  more  or  less  far-reaching  innova- 
tions in  the  interest  of  the  public  weal.  There  is  not  a  country 
of  Europe  in  which  the  past  four  or  five  generations  have  not 
been  productive  of  considerable  development  in  respect  to 
many  or  all  of  these  things,  and  no  history  of  the  nineteenth 
century  can  be  adjudged  in  any  wise  adequate  which  does  not 
assign  to  them  a  larger  permanent  importance  than  to  war, 
diplomacy,  or  court  affairs. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  explain  the  origins  and 
character  of  some  of  the  changes  that  have  been  enumerated. 
The  ground  to  be  traversed  in  point  of  time  is  the  century  and 
a  quarter  which  has  elapsed  since  the  uprising  of  1789  in 
France.  The  subject  to  be  covered  is  "social  progress." 
The  term  "social,"  susceptible  of  numerous  definitions,  must 
here  be  interpreted  very  broadly  to  comprehend  everything 
that  bears  with  any  degree  of  directness  upon  the  status  and 
opportunity  of  the  average  man  in  the  society  in  which  he 
lives.  It  partakes  of  the  political,  the  legal,  the  intellectual, 
the  religious,  and  the  economic.  Similarly,  the  term  "prog- 
ress" must  be  accorded  a  liberal  construction.  It  is  often 
by  no  means  easy  to  say  wherein  progress  consists,  and  at 
the  best  the  term,  like  the  thing  for  which  it  stands,  is  largely 
relative.  What  is  progress  to-day  may  be  reaction  to-morrow, 
and  what  by  one  person  is  considered  progress  may  by  an- 
other be  considered  retrogression. 

The  purpose  in  hand,  however,  is  to  gather  up  and  follow 
at  some  length  those  threads  of  recent  politics,  legislation, 
industry,  and  reform  upon  which  have  been  strung  noteworthy 
benefits  for  the  ordinary  member  of  society.     Wherein,  and 


4        SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

to  what  extent,  are  the  conditions  amidst  which  the  average 
European  of  to-day  lives  and  works  more  conducive  to  wel- 
fare and  happiness  than  were  the  conditions  surrounding  his 
ancestors  of  the  third  and  fourth,  and  even  of  the  first  and 
second,  generations  removed  ?  This  is  the  query  with  which 
it  is  proposed  to  approach  the  social  and  economic  maze  of 
contemporary  Europe.  No  final  or  complete  answer  is  to 
be  expected.  No  facts  are  more  elusive  than  those  which 
pertain  to  the  homeliest  concerns  of  everyday  existence,  and 
the  range  of  the  inquiry  that  can  be  undertaken  here  is,  of 
necessity,  severely  restricted.  Certain  broad  conclusions 
may,  however,  be  arrived  at,  and  those  conclusions  ought  to 
possess  no  mere  academic  interest.  For  a  variety  of  reasons 
they  should  be  of  practical  concern  hardly  less  to  the  Ameri- 
can than  to  the  European.  It  may  be  maintained  that,  on 
the  whole,  Americans  cherish  fewer  prejudices  respecting 
foreign  peoples  and  are  able  to  assume  a  more  appreciative 
attitude  toward  them  than  any  other  great  national  group  of 
men.  Our  newspapers  and  magazines  are  filled  with  foreign 
news  and  discussions  of  foreign  affairs.  Hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  Europeans  land  at  our  ports  every  year  and  settle 
among  our  people,  and  through  the  immigration  problem 
alone  we  are  being  compelled  to  inquire  closely  into  the 
antecedent  conditions  of  our  newcomers,  and  therefore  into 
the  manner  of  life  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  population 
of  Europe.  Industrial  changes,  problems  of  capital  and 
labor,  land  ownership  and  control,  conditions  of  everyday 
life,  opportunities  and  effects  of  education,  the  various  forms 
of  social  propaganda,  the  care  of  the  criminal  and  dependent 
classes  —  all  these  things,  and  many  more,  are  of  interest  to 
us,  whether  viewed  in  Great  Britain,  in  Germany,  or  in 
Russia.  They  are  interesting  in  themselves,  and  doubly  so 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  in  many  respects  we  have  our  own 
similar  problems  and  stand  in  need  of  the  practical  experi- 
ence of  other  and  older  peoples. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY  BACKGROUND 

To  the  end  that  the  direction,  extent,  and  character  of  the 
social  development  of  Europe  since  the  French  Revoution 
may  adequately  be  measured,  it  is  essential  that  certain 
fundamental  aspects  of  the  European  situation  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century  be  emphasized  at  the  outset.  For  present 
purposes  these  aspects  may  be  grouped  under  five  heads, 
according  as  they  relate  to  (i)  population,  (2)  the  mechanical 
appliances  of  civilization,  (3)  government,  (4)  social  strata 
and  privilege,  and  (5)  economic  condition. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  in  the  eighteenth 
century  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  were  both  very  much 
fewer  than  they  are  to-day  and  very  differently  distributed. 
One  of  the  things  for  which  the  past  hundred  years  has  been 
especially  remarkable  is  the  growth  of  populations  that  has 
taken  place  within  the  period.  The  aggregate  population 
of  Europe  in  1800  has  been  estimated  at  150,000,000  and  that 
in  1900  at  330,000,000,  which  means  that  for  every  five  persons 
living  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  Napoleon's  consu- 
late there  were  eleven  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Queen 
Victoria.  The  first  of  European  censuses  whose  results  are  of 
much  value  were  those  taken  in  Great  Britain  and  in  France 
in  1801.  The  French  census,  taken  at  the  instance  of  Napo- 
leon, and  covering,  in  addition  to  France  proper,  the  territory 
of  Alsace-Lorraine,  showed  a  population  of  27,350,000, 
which  (leaving  out  of  account  the  extremely  uncertain  popu- 
lations of  Russia  and  Turkey)  was  at  the  time  the  largest 
in  Europe.  The  population  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
estimated  in  1789  at  14,000,000,  was  shown  by  the  census 

5 


6        SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

of  1801  to  be  16,345,646,  being  exceeded  by  the  populations 
of  France,  Austria-Hungary,  Prussia,  and  Italy.  With  the 
exception  of  France,  virtually  every  European  country  has 
doubled,  or  more  than  doubled,  its  population  since  the 
period  mentioned.  The  population  of  France  has  been  in- 
creased by  less  than  half,  being,  in  1906,  39,252,267.  But 
that  of  the  United  Kingdom  rose  by  1911  to  45,216,665,  and 
that  of  the  territories  comprising  present-day  Germany  came 
up  by  1910  to  64,896,881  — in  neither  instance  far  short  of 
a  tripling.  In  1800  the  number  of  inhabitants  per  square  mile 
was  134  in  France  and  113  in  Germany.  In  1908  the  number 
in  France  was  189,  in  Germany  303.  The  population  den- 
sity of  Germany  is  now  substantially  equal  to  that  of  Italy,  is 
approaching  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  is  materially  exceeded 
in  Europe  only  by  that  of  Belgium  and  Holland. 

Another  phase  of  population  change  has  been  that  involved 
in  the  growth  of  towns  and  cities.  In  most  European  coun- 
tries the  nineteenth  century  was  a  noteworthy  period  of  ur- 
ban development.  In  1801  England  and  Wales  contained 
but  106  urban  centres  exceeding  5000  in  population  and  15 
exceeding  20,000;  in  1891  the  numbers  were,  respectively, 
622  and  106.  In  1801  the  proportion  of  Englishmen  and 
Welshmen  living  in  towns  of  20,000  was  less  than  17  per  cent; 
in  1891  it  was  53.5  per  cent.  At  the  present  day  eight  of 
every  ten  Englishmen  dwell  in  towns  of  10,000  and  upwards. 
Between  1846  and  1891  the  proportion  of  the  population  of 
France  classed  as  urban  (i.e.,  resident  in  communes  contain- 
ing 2000  persons  or  more)  increased  from  24.4  to  37.4  per 
cent.  The  urban  element  (in  gemeinden  of  2000  people  or 
more)  in  the  kingdom  of  Prussia  rose  between  1867  and  1895 
from  35.8  to  51.4  per  cent.  In  Austria  the  same  element  rose 
between  1843  an<i  1890  from  18.9  to  32.5  per  cent.  Not 
merely  did  the  proportion  of  urban  to  total  population  tend 
thus  universally  to  be  increased ;  the  century  witnessed  the  rise 
of  those  vast  agglomerations  of  people  which  to-day  comprise 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  BACKGROUND  7 

the  populations  of  London,  Paris,  Berlin,  St.  Petersburg, 
Vienna,  and  scores  of  lesser  centres.  The  population  of 
London  in  1801  was  864,845;  to-day  it  is  7,252,963.*  That 
of  Paris  in  1801,  was  547,756  ;  in  1906  it  was  2,722,731.  That 
of  Berlin  in  1819  was  201,138 ;  that  of  the  German  metropolis 
in  1905  was  2,040,222.  Such  cities  as  existed  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  even  the  largest  of  them,  were  hardly  better  equipped 
with  the  conveniences  of  civilized  life  than  were  those  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  In  the  boulevards  of  Paris  in  1787  the  mud 
was  not  infrequently  six  inches  or  a  foot  deep.2  Berlin  in 
1800  had  no  sidewalks,  paving,  or  sewers.  London  by  1800 
had  lamp-posts,  but  was  the  only  city  of  Europe  which 
boasted  such  a  luxury. 

A  second  fact,  indeed,  which  needs  constantly  to  be  borne 
in  mind  is  that  the  Europe  of  the  eighteenth  century  was 
devoid  of  a  multiplicity  of  mechanical  inventions  and  appli- 
ances whose  use  has  been  woven  into  the  very  texture  of  our 
present-day  civilization.  No  man  before  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury ever  saw  a  railroad  or  a  steamship,  and  the  mere  lack 
of  these  great  agencies  of  travel  and  trade  was  sufficient  to 
impart  to  the  eighteenth  century  a  character  distinctly  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  more  recent  times.  There  was  in  the 
eighteenth  century  no  such  thing  as  the  telegraph  or  the  tele- 
phone, by  which  almost  instant  communication  at  great 
distances  has  been  made  not  only  possible  but  convenient 
and  cheap.  Electricity  was  not  unknown,  but  appliances  for 
the  utilization  of  electrical  power  were  yet  to  be  developed. 
Photography,  anaesthetics,  antiseptics,  illuminating  gas, 
kerosene,  friction  matches,  and  scores  of  other  products  and 

1This  is  the  population,  in  191 1,  of  Greater  London,  comprising  the  city  and 
the  Metropolitan  Police  District. 

2  Of  Paris,  the  English  traveller,  Arthur  Young,  who  visited  the  city  in  1787, 
writes:  "The  streets  are  very  narrow,  and  many  of  them  crowded,  nine-tenths 
dirty,  and  all  without  foot  pavements.  Walking,  which  in  London  is  so  pleas- 
ant and  so  clean  that  ladies  do  it  every  day,  is  here  a  toil  and  a  fatigue  to  a  man, 
and  an  impossibility  to  a  well-dressed  woman." 


8        SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

arts  owing  their  existence  to  the  practical  application  of 
scientific  knowledge  were  yet  undreamt  of.  The  founda- 
tions of  the  modern  sciences  of  physics,  chemistry,  astronomy, 
botany,  and  geology  were  laid  by  the  remarkable  researches 
of  eighteenth  century  scholars,  but  the  establishing  of  the 
relations  between  theoretical  scientific  knowledge  and  the 
everyday  needs  of  human  life  remained  largely  to  be  accom- 
plished during  the  past  hundred  years. 

In  the  next  place,  it  may  be  observed  that  there  was  not  in 
operation  in  Europe  prior  to  1789  a  single  governmental  sys- 
tem which  properly  can  be  termed  democratic. 1  England, 
it  is  true,  possessed  the  elements  of  a  modern  popular  govern- 
ment. Already,  save  during  the  more  vigorous  days  of  George 
III.,  it  could  be  said  that  the  king  reigned  but  did  not  gov- 
ern, and  the  fundamental  principles  of  parliamentary  control 
of  legislation  and  finance  and  the  administration  of  public 
affairs  by  a  ministry  responsible  singly  and  collectively  to  the 
House  of  Commons  had  been  brought  permanently  into 
operation.  The  requirements  of  the  franchise,  however, 
were  so  exacting  that  the  great  mass  of  small  landholders  and 
non-landholders  continued,  as  in  the  Middle  Ages,  to  be  ex- 
cluded entirely  from  the  electorate ;  the  House  of  Commons 
represented  only  a  small  minority  of  the  nation,  and  the  aris- 
tocratic House  of  Lords  could  prevent  the  enactment  of  any 
measure  which  the  Commons  succeeded  in  passing;  the 
offices  of  state  were  monopolized  by  members  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church;  in  short,  the  nation  as  a  whole  was  not  yet 
self-governing.  On  the  continent  the  situation  was  worse, 
because  all  but  universally  such  agencies  of  popular  govern- 
ment as  at  one  time  or  another  had  sprung  into  existence 
were,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  inactive  or  even  obsolete. 
In  France  the  States  General,  comprising  representatives  of 

1  Switzerland,  the  tiny  republics  of  Andorra  and  San  Marino,  and  the  Nether- 
lands were  not  monarchies,  but  their  governmental  systems  were  by  no  means 
wholly  democratic. 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  BACKGROUND  9 

the  three  estates,  or  orders,  had  not  met  since  1614.     The 
Spanish  Cortes,  while  not  fallen  completely  into  desuetude, 
was  seldom  convened  for  purposes  other  than  the  swearing 
of  allegiance  to  a  new  sovereign  and  the  performance  of  other 
nominal  duties  incident  to  the  inauguration  of  a  reign.    In 
Austria,  Prussia,  and  the  German  states  generally  autocracy 
was  unrestricted.     During  the  course  of  the  century  there 
reigned  a  number  of  sovereigns  who  by  historians  are  com- 
monly designated  as  the  "  enlightened  despots," —  Frederick II. 
of  Prussia,  Catherine  the  Great  of  Russia,  Maria  Theresa  of 
Austria,  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.  and  his  brother  Leopold 
(grand-duke  of  Tuscany),  and  Charles  III.  of  Spain.     Each 
of  these  monarchs  labored  conscientiously  and  more  or  less 
successfully  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  people  over  whom 
he  or  she  ruled.    But  all  of  them  were  thoroughgoing  absolut- 
ists, and  there  was  no  place  in  the  plans  of  any  of  them  for 
popular  institutions.    Government  continued  uninterruptedly 
to  mean  despotism  —  benevolent,  perhaps,  but  yet  despotism. 
In  all  countries,  but  especially  on  the  continent,  the  eigh- 
teenth century  was  still  essentially   mediaeval  in  respect  to 
the  stratification  of  society  and  the  status  possessed  by  the 
various  social  orders.    A  twelfth  century  chronicler  in  France 
declared  that  the  society  of  his  day  consisted  of  three  classes  — 
the  fighting  class,  the  praying  class,  and  the  farming  class. 
With  the  addition  of  an  industrial  class,  which  came  into 
importance  at  a  later  time,  this  grouping  of  the  social  ele- 
ments was  maintained  essentially  unchanged  in  the  eighteenth 
century.     The  fighting  class  was  no  longer  distinctively  a 
feudal  class  as  once  it  had  been,  for  feudalism  had  all  but 
disappeared ;  but  it  was  represented  in  effect  by  the  nobility, 
shorn,  it  is  true,  of  the  enormous  governmental  powers  that 
had  belonged  to  it  in  most  countries  in  the  Middle  Ages,  but 
preserving  a  very  large  measure  of  eminence  and  privilege. 
The  "praying  class,"  comprising  the  clergy,  was  in  no  country 
so  powerful  as  once  it  had  been,  but  it  likewise  preserved  in 


10     SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

a  large  degree  its  wealth,  influence,  and  privileged  position. 
The  industrial  class,  using  the  term  broadly,  included  the 
traders,  craftsmen,  artisans,  and  to  some  extent  the  profes- 
sional men. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  scale,  now  as  ever,  stood  the  farming 
class,  i.e.,  the  rural  peasantry,  Formerly  the  members  of 
this  class  had  been  very  generally  serfs,  which  means  that 
they  were  obligated  to  remain  through  life  upon  the  manor 
to  which  they  belonged  and  to  render  to  the  proprietor  a 
burdensome  aggregate  of  dues,  some  in  the  form  of  produce 
and  some  in  the  form  of  manual  labor.  In  some  countries 
serfdom  had  disappeared  gradually  during  the  later  Middle 
Ages,  and  by  the  eighteenth  century  had  become  practically 
non-existent.  This  was  true  especially  of  England  and,  in 
a  somewhat  smaller  degree,  of  France.  In  Spain,  Austria, 
Prussia,  portions  of  Italy,  and  Russia,  however,  the  peasants 
were  still,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  in  France,  all 
but  universally  serfs,  and  in  some  of  the  countries  mentioned 
they  continued  to  be  so  until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Even  where,  as  in  England  and  France,  the  eigh- 
teenth century  peasant  was  not  a  serf,  he  was  pretty  certain 
not  to  be  an  independent  proprietor  of  his  own  bit  of  ground, 
as  is  the  French  or  the  American  small  farmer  of  to-day. 
He  lived,  as  a  rule,  still  upon  the  ancient  manor,  and  whether 
or  not  legally  free,  was  in  point  of  fact,  by  reason  of  his  pov- 
erty and  his  economic  dependence,  bound  by  numerous  obli- 
gations and  exactions.  He  dwelt  in  a  cheerless  hut,  labored 
incessantly  to  meet  his  obligations  to  landlord,  state,  and 
church,  considered  himself  fortunate  to  be  able  to  keep  soul 
and  body  together,  and,  at  the  last,  transmitted  to  his  chil- 
dren a  lot  in  life  neither  worse  nor  better  than  that  which 
had  been  his  own. 

In  connection  with  this  matter  of  social  stratification  it  is 
essential  to  take  note  especially  of  the  peculiar  status  of  the 
clergy  and  of  the  power  which  ecclesiastical  tradition  and 


THE   EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY   BACKGROUND         n 

organization  exerted  upon  the  minds  and  deeds  of  men. 
During  the  sixteenth  century  the  solidarity  of  the  Church 
universal  had  been  shattered,  but  through  the  centuries  that 
followed  there  existed  in  every  country  of  Europe  some  one 
branch  of  the  Church  which  for  all  practical  purposes  occupied 
the  same  exalted  station  that  the  undivided  Church  had 
occupied  throughout  Christendom  in  the  Middle  Ages.  In 
France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Austria,  and  the  Italian  states  this 
Church  was  the  Catholic ;  in  the  Scandinavian  and  North 
German  states  it  was  the  Lutheran ;  in  England  it  was  the 
Anglican,  and  in  Scotland  the  Presbyterian.  In  most 
countries  the  clergy  constituted  a  separate,  powerful,  and 
highly  privileged  order  of  society.  The  Catholic  Church 
continued  enormously  wealthy;  its  influence  was  still  pre- 
dominant at  many  courts;  and  its  range  of  activities  — 
religious,  judicial,  educational,  philanthropic  —  was  scarcely 
more  restricted,  save  geographically,  than  five  hundred  years 
before.  Within  England  the  position  occupied  by  the  Estab- 
lished Church  approximated  closely  to  that  occupied  by  the 
Catholic  organization  in  France  or  Spain. 

Protestant  and  Catholic  churches  in  common  were  intoler- 
ant of  dissenters,  and  in  every  important  country  there  were 
penal  laws  of  the  most  thoroughgoing  character  by  which 
attempt  was  made  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  faith.  Thus 
in  France  under  terms  of  a  decree  of  1724  persons  who  should 
assemble  for  worship  in  accordance  with  any  creed  save 
the  Catholic  were  condemned  to  forfeit  their  property,  the 
women  being  imprisoned  for  fife,  the  men  being  sent  to  the 
galleys,  and  the  ministers  who  convoked  such  meetings  or 
conducted  unapproved  services  being  put  to  death.  It  is 
only  fair  to  say  that  this  rigorous  law  was  but  mildly  enforced. 
But  the  fact  of  its  existence  in  one  of  the  most  enlightened 
of  European  countries  within  two  hundred  years  of  our  own 
day  is  significant.  England,  likewise,  maintained  through- 
out the  eighteenth  century  an  essentially  intolerant  religious 


12     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

system.  The  Act  of  Toleration  of  1689  permitted  Protestant 
dissenters  to  hold  meetings;  but  "papists  and  such  as  deny 
the  Trinity"  were  excluded  from  the  benefits  of  the  measure, 
the  celebration  of  the  mass  was  rigidly  prohibited,  and 
Catholics  were  forbidden  to  enter  the  country  and  all  public 
offices  were  closed  against  them.  At  the  middle  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  there  was  rendered  a  judicial  decision  to  the 
effect  that  English  law  did  not  recognize  the  presence  of 
Roman  Catholics  within  the  kingdom  and  that  their  con- 
tinuance in  the  country  was  made  possible  only  by  lax  en- 
forcement of  the  statutes.1 

Within  the  domains  of  industry  and  commerce  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  at  least  until  toward  its  close,  was  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes  about  as  far  removed  from  the  nineteenth 
as  was  the  sixteenth  or  seventeenth.  Industry  was  still 
almost  exclusively  of  the  handicraft,  household  type;  ma- 
chines were  few  and  crude;  steam-power  was  but  in  its  ex- 
perimental stage;  the  factory  system  was  unknown.  The 
demand  for  manufactured  goods  was  comparatively  small, 
and  the  industrial  output  was  correspondingly  limited.  The 
various  crafts  were  carried  on  still,  for  the  greater  part,  by 
master  workmen  who  were  organized  in  guilds  and  who  were 
assisted  in  the  processes  of  manufacture  by  members  of  their 
families,  by  journeymen,  or  hired  workmen,  and  by  ap- 
prentices. The  work  was  done  in  small  shops  attached  to 
the  living  rooms  of  the  master  craftsman,  and  the  goods  pro- 
duced were  apt  to  be  exhibited  for  sale  on  the  spot.  A  guild 
comprised  the  organization  of  masters  engaged  in  a  particular 
craft  within  a  town,  e.g.,  the  weavers,  the  goldsmiths,  the 
tailors,  the  tanners,  the  bakers,  the  candlemakers,  and  by 
it  were  regulated  minutely  the  quantity  of  goods  to  be  pro- 
duced, the  quality  to  be  maintained,  the  prices  to  be  charged, 
the  number  of  journeymen  and  apprentices  to  be  kept,  the 
wages  to  be  paid,  and,  above  all,  the  conditions  to  be  required 
1  Robinson  and  Beard,  "Development  of  Modern  Europe,"  I.,  155. 


THE   EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY   BACKGROUND         13 

Tor  the  admission  of  new  members  of  the  organization. 
Within  its  sphere  the  guild  maintained  a  rigid  monopoly  of 
industry.  No  one  might  set  up  a  shop  unless  he  were  a  guild 
member,  and  no  member  might  engage,  no  matter  how  slightly, 
in  an  industry  other  than  that  which  customarily  he  followed. 
Specialization  was  carried  to  such  ridiculous  lengths  that  the 
hatter  who  made  felt  hats  might  not  make  silk  hats,  and  the 
baker  who  made  bread  might  not  make  pies  or  cakes.  By 
maintaining  arbitrary  standards  of  efficiency  for  admission, 
the  guilds  were  able  to  restrict  severely  the  number  of  persons 
who  were  entitled  to  participate  in  their  benefits,  and  in  many 
instances  the  guild  became  a  close  and  selfish  corporation 
whose  strong  hand  but  stifled  the  development  of  industry. 
In  England,  France,  and  Germany  alike  the  guild  system 
was  preponderant  until  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  In  Germany  the  restrictions  which  the  guilds 
imposed  upon  industrial  freedom  were  especially  galling. 

The  prevailing  characteristics  of  industry  were  reflected 
in  a  large  degree  in  the  conditions  under  which  trade  was  con- 
ducted. The  eighteenth  century  idea  was  that  trade  is  a 
series  of  transactions  involving  of  necessity  both  profit  and 
loss  —  that  in  every  commercial  operation  one  party  is 
certain  to  gain  and  the  other  to  lose.  That  commercial  rela- 
tions not  only  may,  but  ordinarily  must,  conduce  to  the  mu- 
tual benefit  of  buyer  and  seller  is  a  fact  which  is  self-evident 
to-day,  but  to  which  the  economists  of  a  century  and  a  half 
ago  were  almost  universally  blind.  Commerce  was  organized 
wholly  with  the  idea  of  procuring  a  "favorable  balance  of 
trade,"  and  the  principles  which  underlay  it  were  those  of 
monopoly  and  rigid  regulation  by  the  state  or  other  consti- 
tuted authority.  How  these  principles  operated  in  practice, 
even  when  administered  by  the  most  liberal  government  in 
Europe,  is  familiar  enough  to  every  one  acquainted  with  the 
commercial  vicissitudes  of  the  American  colonies  in  the  cen- 
tury preceding  the  Revolution.     It  was  not  until  1776,  when 


14     SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

Adam  Smith,  a  professor  in  the  University  of  Glasgow,  pub- 
lished his  "Wealth  of  Nations,"  that  the  doctrine  of  freedom 
of  trade  found  an  authoritative  and  influential  spokesman. 

At  no  point  was  the  eighteenth  century  more  backward 
than  in  respect  to  agriculture.  It  is  doubtful  whether  in  any 
considerable  portions  of  Europe  a  hundred  years  ago  the  soil 
was  cultivated  with  either  the  science  or  the  skill  which  were 
commonplaces  of  rural  husbandry  in  the  better  days  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Large  stretches  of  land,  especially  in  Ger- 
many, were  still  covered  with  forests  or  swamps.  Of  the 
arable  areas,  much  was  cultivated,  if  cultivated  at  all,  in  the 
most  haphazard  and  unproductive  fashion.  By  reason  of  lack 
of  knowledge  of  the  arts  of  fertilization  and  soil-preservation, 
it  was  more  necessary  even  than  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  allow 
cultivated  ground  to  lie  fallow  every  third  year  to  permit  of 
its  recuperation.  Crops  were  few,  seed  varieties  were  unim- 
proved, methods  of  cultivation  were  antiquated,  agricultural 
machinery  was  of  the  crudest  sort,  and  the  product,  small  at 
best,  was  liable  always  to  serious  diminution  by  flood,  drought, 
or  other  natural  visitation.  An  enormous  proportion  of  the 
people  lived  all  of  the  time  upon  the  verge  of  want,  even  of 
starvation.  Far  into  the  nineteenth  century  progress  in  re- 
spect both  to  acreage  and  agricultural  technique  was  slow, 
and,  as  will  be  pointed  out  subsequently,  with  the  growth  of 
the  great  industrial  populations  of  the  present  day  it  has  been 
found  necessary  in  most  countries  to  depend  ever  more  largely 
upon  the  importation  of  foodstuffs  from  the  outlying  world. 


CHAPTER  in 

THE   OLD  REGIME   IN   FRANCE 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  a  general  overturning  of  the  condi- 
tions that  have  been  described  came  first  in  France,  and  came 
elsewhere  largely  in  consequence  of  the  movement  in  France, 
it  is  desirable  that  attention  be  directed  somewhat  more 
specifically  to  certain  phases  of  the  eighteenth  century  situa- 
tion within  that  pivotal  country.  The  first  thing  to  be  ob- 
served is  that  while  the  France  of  the  prerevolutionary  period 
was,  for  purposes  of  government,  a  highly  centralized  nation, 
in  respect  to  law,  finance,  social  customs,  economic  status,  and 
even  language,  the  country  was  one  in  which  there  were  the 
most  surprising  diversities.  By  a  long  series  of  conquests, 
purchases,  inheritances,  confiscations,  and  extinctions  of 
feudal  dynasties,  stretching  all  the  way  from  Hugh  Capet 
in  the  tenth  century  to  Louis  XVI.  in  the  eighteenth,  there 
had  been  brought  into  the  royal  domain,  i.e.,  under  the  im- 
mediate control  of  the  crown,  an  aggregate  of  territory  which 
comprised  very  nearly  the  area  of  the  present  French  republic. 
Most  of  the  territories  thus  acquired  possessed  originally 
their  own  governmental  arrangements,  their  own  body  of 
local  law  (in  some  cases  written,  in  others  not),  their  own 
more  or  less  peculiar  social  and  industrial  characteristics. 
Save  in  so  far  as  administrative  efficiency  required,  there  was 
usually,  upon  the  annexation  of  a  district  to  the  domain,  little 
interference  with  its  local  conditions  or  usages.  If  the  king 
received  the  taxes  and  the  military  service  that  were  due,  he 
was  likely  to  be  content.  Thus  it  came  about  that  at  as  late  a 
date  as  1789  France  was  but  an  agglomeration  of  territorial 
units,  many  of  them  representing  survivals  of  ancient  coun- 

15 


1 6     SOCIAL    PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

ties,  duchies,  or  other  feudal  districts,  and  all  of  them  differing 
widely  among  themselves  in  the  most  fundamental  charac- 
teristics. For  example,  in  the  highly  important  matter  of 
law  there  had  been  no  unifying  development  such  as  that 
which  across  the  Channel  had  produced  the  great  Common 
Law  of  England;  instead,  law  was  regional,  and  while  in 
large  portions  of  the  south  the  Roman  law  had  never  been 
superseded,  in  the  north  and  west  there  were  in  operation  an 
aggregate  of  no  fewer  than  two  hundred  eighty-five  more  or 
less  widely  differing  legal  systems.  Commercially,  also,  the 
nation  was  devoid  of  unity.  A  network  of  tariff  walls  set  off 
the  provinces  sharply  against  one  another.  Even  the  royal 
imposts,  notably  the  rates  charged  by  the  government  for 
the  salt  whose  sale  it  monopolized,  varied  enormously  from 
one  portion  of  the  country  to  another.  Some  taxes  which  fell 
heavily  upon  certain  regions  were  not  collected  in  others  at  all. 
Government  was  in  form  and  fact  absolute.  The  princi- 
ple underlying  the  administration  of  public  affairs  is  perfectly 
expressed  in  the  aphorism  attributed  to  Louis  XIV.  —  L'etat, 
c'est  moi,  "I  am  the  state."  There  is  no  evidence  that  this  pre- 
cise phrase  was  ever  employed  by  the  great  Bourbon  mon- 
arch, but  it  summarizes  exactly  the  political  doctrines  to  which 
Louis  and  his  dynasty  adhered.  Louis  XVI.,  in  whose  days 
came  the  deluge,  put  it  thus:  "The  sovereign  authority  re- 
sides exclusively  in  my  person.  To  me  solely  belongs  the 
power  of  making  the  laws,  and  without  dependence  or  co- 
operation. The  entire  public  order  emanates  from  me,  and 
I  am  its  supreme  protector.  My  people  are  one  with  me. 
The  rights  and  interests  of  the  nation  are  necessarily  identical 
with  mine  and  rest  solely  in  my  hands."  Under  the  auto- 
cratic supervision  of  the  sovereign,  such  laws  as  were  enacted 
were  drafted  and  prepared  for  promulgation  by  the  five  great 
councils  of  state,  consisting  exclusively  of  royal  appointees. 
The  executive  power  was  wielded  directly  by  the  king,  in  so 
far  as  he  cared  to  burden  himself  with  it,  and  for  the  rest,  by 


THE  OLD   REGIME   IN  FRANCE  17 

the  councils  and  a  vast  hierarchy  of  appointed  officials,  reach- 
ing downwards  through  the  various  bureaus,  the  secretariats, 
the  intendants  in  charge  of  the  thirty-two  generalites,  the 
provincial  governors,  and  the  intendants'  assistants,  the  sub- 
delegates  in  the  petty  Elections  or  districts.  Justice  was  ren- 
dered in  some  thirteen  parlements  and  in  a  multitude  of 
inferior  tribunals  whose  proceedings  were  subject  to  the  most 
arbitrary  interference  at  the  dictation  of  the  crown  or  of 
vested  interest.  Under  the  authority  of  a  royal  lettre  de 
cachet,  or  "sealed  letter,"  any  person  not  only  might  be  placed 
under  summary  arrest,  but  was  liable  to  be  held  in  prison  until 
such  time  as  it  might  suit  the  pleasure  or  the  convenience 
of  the  constituted  authorities  to  inquire  into  the  merits  of 
his  case.  Lettres  de  cachet  were  not  difficult  to  obtain,  and 
the  power  which  they  carried  was  in  practice  gravely 
abused.  Not  infrequently  they  became  the  instruments  of 
mere  personal  malice  or  vengeance. 

The  life  of  the  nation  centred  in  the  capital,  and  that  of 
the  capital  in  the  court.  Versailles,  a  suburb  of  Paris  con- 
taining some  80,000  inhabitants,  was  the  seat  of  the  court, 
and  there  the  wealth,  fashion,  and  ambition  of  all  France  was 
gathered.  Even  after  the  attempts  at  economy,  by  which 
the  earlier  years  of  Louis  XVI.  were  marked,  the  military 
retinue  of  the  king  consisted  of  9050  persons,  his  civil  house- 
hold numbered  something  like  4000,  and  the  aggregate  cost 
of  maintenance  of  the  two  was  45,000,000  francs  a  year.  At 
Versailles,  which,  after  all,  was  but  one  of  the  dozen  residences 
which  were  kept  in  readiness  for  the  royal  family's  use,  the 
king  had  1857  horses,  217  vehicles,  and  1458  men  in  livery. 
Marie  Antoinette's  private  stables  in  1780  contained  75 
vehicles  and  330  horses.  In  1786,  three  years  before  the 
storming  of  the  Bastile,  there  were  in  the  palace  at  Ver- 
sailles 150  pages,  128  musicians,  48  physicians  and  assistants, 
383  officers  of  the  table,  and  198  persons  whose  sole  function 
was  to  wait  upon  the  person  of  the  king.     When  opposition 


18     SOCIAL   PROGRESS    IN  CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

arose  to  the  queen's  proposal  to  economize  in  the  matter  of 
the  "household"  to  be  established  for  the  one-month  old 
Princess  Elizabeth,  a  compromise  was  finally  agreed  upon  to 
the  effect  that  a  body  of  80  persons  would  be  adequate. 
It  need  hardly  be  said  that  75  per  cent  of  the  attendants  and 
equipment  mentioned  served  absolutely  no  purpose  save  that 
of  lending  the  court  an  imposing  appearance.  Not  only  was 
the  direct  cost  of  such  lavishness  enormous ;  the  whole  order 
of  things  stimulated  extravagance  and  recklessness.  Pen- 
sions for  favorites,  fat  sinecures  for  incompetents,  purchases 
of  estates  or  palaces  for  impoverished  courtiers  at  prices  four 
or  five  times  their  value  —  these  were  constant  drains  upon 
the  treasury  which  not  even  a  sovereign  of  stronger  will  than 
a  Louis  XVI.  could  have  checked  without  threatening  the 
overturn  of  the  foundations  upon  which  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury monarchy  rested.  Nor  was  the  prodigality,  or  its  evil 
effect,  restricted  to  the  court.  "Every  noble  of  any  impor- 
tance," as  one  writer  puts  it,  "must  have  his  little  Versailles, 
and  waste  his  property  and  other  peoples'  property  in  main- 
taining his  state,  while  all  Europe  must  go  bankrupt  trying 
to  live  like  the  king  of  the  French  —  who  was  himself  going 
bankrupt  most  rapidly  of  all."  * 

The  population  of  France  in  1789  numbered  approximately 
25,000,000,  an  increase  of  some  eight  millions  since  the  close 
of  the  wars  of  Louis  XIV.  Of  this  body  of  people,  the  two 
privileged  orders,  the  nobility  and  the  clergy,  comprised 
together  a  trifle  more  than  1  per  cent.  The  estimate  of  Taine 
is  that  the  nobility  numbered  140,000  and  the  clergy  120,000 
to  130,000;  that  is,  about  25,000  or  30,000  noble  families, 
and  about  23,000  monks  in  2500  monasteries,  37,000  nuns 
in  1500  convents,  and  60,000  curates  and  vicars  attached  to 
the  various  secular  churches  and  chapels.  The  number  of 
archbishops  was  18,  and  that  of  bishops  121,  exclusive  of  11 
who  possessed  actually  no  dioceses  in  France.  The  aggrc 
1  Mathews,  "The  French  Revolution,"  33. 


THE  OLD  REGIME  IN  FRANCE  19 

gate  wealth  of  the  two  orders,  nobility  and  clergy,  was  ap~ 
proximately  equal.  Each  owned  from  a  fifth  to  a  fourth  of 
the  soil  of  France. 

Centuries  of  development  of  the  royal  power  had  left  the 
nobility  very  generally  shorn  of  political  prerogative ;  but  the 
social  distinctions  and  public  privileges  which  had  always 
attached  to  the  order  had  been  preserved,  and  at  some  points 
even  augmented,  so  that  on  the  whole  the  position  of  the 
eighteenth  century  French  nobleman  was  one  of  scarcely 
less  dignity  and  immunity  than  had  been  that  of  his  mediaeval 
ancestor.  As  always,  of  course,  the  nobles  were  not  at 
all  on  a  common  footing  among  themselves.  Some  were 
great  and  some  were  small,  some  were  rich  and  some  poor, 
some  had  long  pedigrees  and  some  short.  A  title  of  nobility 
was  no  longer  necessarily  a  token  of  lofty  birth,  nor  a  brevet 
of  personal  distinction.  It  denoted  only  that  a  man,  or  his 
ancestors,  had  property,  or  that  he,  or  they,  had  met  with 
favor  at  the  royal  hand.  Allowing,  however,  for  the  wide 
differences  that  separated  higher  from  lower  members  of  the 
order,  the  privileges  of  the  nobility  in  eighteenth  century 
France  may  be  said  to  have  consisted  in  four  things.  The 
first  that  may  be  mentioned  was  exemption  from  military 
service,  from  the  obligation  of  contributing  to  the  subsistence 
of  the  soldiery,  from  the  duty  of  assisting  in  the  upkeep  of  the 
public  highways,  and,  most  important  of  all,  from  substan- 
tially all  taxation.  The  nobles  as  a  class  enjoyed  no  collec- 
tive tax  exemption,  as  did  the  clergy.  Each  man  entered 
into  his  own  agreement  with  the  governing  authorities,  how- 
ever, and  the  consequence  was  that  some  nobles  paid  no  taxes 
at  all  and  the  majority  paid  but  little.  The  taille  (a  direct 
tax  on  land),  yielding  91,000,000  francs,  was  paid  almost 
exclusively  by  the  roturiers,  i.e.,  the  peasants.  To  the  capita- 
tion, or  poll  tax,  yielding  41,500,000  francs,  and  to  the  ving- 
tiemes,  or  "twentieths,"  yielding  76,500,000  francs,  the  nobles 
contributed  but  meagre  amounts.     The  Duke  of  Orleans, 


20     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

reputed  the  richest  proprietor  in  the  kingdom,  stated  his  own 
case  and  that  of  many  another  of  his  class  when  he  said 
frankly:  "I  make  arrangements  with  the  officials,  and  pay 
only  about  what  I  wish  to." 

A  second  important  privilege  was  that  of  exploitation  of 
the  peasantry.  While  it  is  true  that  in  eighteenth  century 
France  the  peasants  were  as  a  rule  free  men  who  owned  or 
rented  their  land,  it  remained  the  theory  of  French  law  that 
there  was  no  land  without  its  lord.  The  majority  of  the 
peasants  lived  still  on  great  manors,  many  of  which  were 
owned  by  the  nobility.  Their  relations  to  their  lordly  pro- 
prietors were  apt  to  be  such  that  they  remained  in  effect 
subject  to  a  variety  of  the  ancient  manorial  obligations. 
Even  the  peasant  who  owned  a  bit  of  ground  was  likely  to 
be  held,  under  one  form  or  another,  for  varied  payments  or 
services.  A  third  privilege  comprised  a  virtual  monopoly 
of  the  offices  and  honors  of  state,  including  places  of  command 
in  the  army,  posts  in  the  diplomatic  service,  and  positions  of 
authority  in  the  Church.  Finally,  there  was  the  opportunity 
which,  save  for  the  higher  clergy,  the  nobility  possessed  ex- 
clusively, of  residing  at,  or  in  close  touch  with,  the  court  and 
of  basking  in  the  effulgence  of  the  royal  presence.  This  was 
of  very  great  consequence,  for  it  meant  not  only  influence 
and  honors  and  splendid  surroundings,  but  pensions  and  sine- 
cure appointments  and  sundry  marks  of  royal  favor.  While 
many  of  the  smaller  nobility  contented  themselves  as  best 
they  might  with  the  life  of  the  landed  proprietor  or  of  the 
townsman,  the  greater  members  of  the  order,  and  not  a  few 
of  the  lesser  ones,  were  unable  to  resist  the  fascination  of  the 
capital.  "Sire,"  said  a  French  courtier  upon  one  occasion 
to  Louis  XIV.,  "to  be  away  from  your  Majesty  is  not  merely 
to  be  unhappy;  it  is  to  be  ridiculous."  And  that  was  the 
nobleman's  point  of  view  as  long  as  the  Bourbon  monarchy 
lasted.  "Exile  alone,"  observed  Arthur  Young,  immediately 
prior  to  the  Revolution,  "forces  the  French  nobility  to  do 


THE   OLD   REGIME  IN  FRANCE  21 

what  the  English  do  by  preference :   to  reside  upon  their 
estates  to  improve  them." 

The  Church  in  France  in  the  eighteenth  century  occupied 
the  position  virtually  of  a  state  within  a  state.  Its  supreme 
authority  in  all  matters  of  religion  was  stipulated  by  law,  and 
the  prerogatives  which  it  had  enjoyed  in  the  Middle  Ages 
continued,  except  upon  the  purely  political  side,  substantially 
unimpaired.  Its  control  of  education  and  of  charity  was  still 
unshaken.  A  fifth  of  the  land  of  the  country  belonged  to  it, 
and  its  revenues  in  a  single  year  are  estimated  all  the  way 
from  250,000,000  to  350,000,000  francs.  Within  the  Church, 
however,  there  were  sharp  distinctions  of  status  and  of  con- 
dition. Five-sixths  of  the  income  that  has  been  mentioned 
went  to  the  support  of  the  bishops  and  archbishops,  whose 
position  in  the  nation  approximated  closely  that  of  the  greater 
nobles,  and  who  not  infrequently  resigned  the  actual  per- 
formance of  their  functions  to  subordinates,  to  the  end  that 
they  themselves  might  spend  their  days  at  the  court.  The 
remaining  one-sixth  of  the  revenues  was  expected  to  sup- 
port the  60,000  parish  priests  and  other  minor  clergy  — 
men  often  of  splendid  integrity  and  devotion,  but  half- 
starved  and  unable  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  wretched  society 
about  them.  The  abbot  of  Sainte-Croix  de  Bernay,  in  Nor- 
mandy, enjoying  an  income  of  57,000  francs  a  year,  lived  in 
Paris  and  employed  a  curate  at  1050  francs  a  year  to  minister 
to  a  parish  of  4000  communicants.  The  Cardinal  de  Rohan 
had  an  income  of  1,000,000  francs  a  year,  upon  which  he 
maintained  a  palace  in  which  he  could  entertain  at  one  time 
200  guests  with  their  retinues.  The  average  income  of  the 
bishops  and  archbishops  was  between  50,000  and  100,000 
francs;  that  of  the  curates,  when  conditions  were  at  their 
best,  was  700  francs.  In  addition  to  income  from  land,  the 
revenues  of  the  Church  were  derived  principally  from  fees 
exacted  for  services  performed  and  from  the  tithe,  which  alone 
in  1789  yielded  a  total  of  183,000,000  francs. 


22     SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

Making  allowance  for  some  differences  arising  from  the 
peculiar  nature  of  their  office,  the  clergy  as  a  class  possessed 
privileges  which  were  substantially  identical  with  those 
possessed  by  the  nobility.  In  point  of  fact,  of  course,  these 
privileges  meant  nothing  to  the  great  body  of  lower  ecclesias- 
tics, save,  as  has  been  mentioned,  the  shouldering  of  burdens 
which  ought  to  have  been  borne  by  their  superiors.  The 
privilege  which  meant  most  to  the  higher  clergy  was  that  of 
exemption  from  taxation.  Being  an  organized  body,  the 
clergy  had  been  able,  first,  to  procure  an  arrangement  under 
which  they  should  contribute  their  share  of  the  public  taxes 
in  an  occasional  lump  sum,  under  the  name  of  a  don  graluit, 
or  "free  gift"  ;  then,  to  arrange  that  they  should  pay  smaller 
and  smaller  amounts,  or  even  that  the  payment  should  be 
omitted  altogether.  In  1788  they  paid  only  1,800,000  francs, 
and  in  1789  they  paid  nothing  at  all.  Occasionally  it  hap- 
pened that,  far  from  voting  a  don  gratuit,  the  clergy,  who  as 
an  order  were  in  debt,  actually  persuaded  the  king  to  grant 
them  a  subsidy  from  the  public  treasury. 

It  is  customary  to  employ  the  term  "Third  Estate"  to 
designate  the  entire  mass  of  French  people  prior  to  the  Revo- 
lution, exclusive  of  the  nobility  and  the  clergy.  The  term 
is  useful,  but  if  it  is  interpreted  to  imply  any  considerable 
measure  of  homogeneity  or  of  class  consciousness  among  the 
twenty-four  and  a  half  millions  of  non-noble,  non-clerical 
inhabitants  of  France  in  1789,  it  is  misleading.  These  in- 
habitants comprised  at  the  same  moment,  as  one  writer  puts 
it,  "the  rich  banker  and  the  beggar  at  his  gate,  the  learned 
encyclopaedist  and  the  water-carrier  who  could  not  spell  his 
name. "  1  They  were  of  all  occupations,  grades  of  intelligence, 
and  manner  of  living.  For  present  purposes  it  is  sufficient 
to  group  them  in  two  principal  categories  —  the  bourgeoisie 
and  the  peasantry.  But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  if  the 
nobles  and  clergy  differed  among  themselves  in  both  theoreti- 

1  Lowell,  "Eve  of  the  French  Revolution,"  154. 


THE  OLD   REGIME  IN   FRANCE  23 

cal  and  actual  position,  so  likewise  did  the  bourgeoisie,  and 
still  more  did  the  peasants. 

The  bourgeoisie  was  the  French  middle  class.  It  was  com- 
posed chiefly  of  lawyers,  judges,  physicians,  capitalists, 
bankers,  merchants,  contractors,  and  high-grade  craftsmen, 
and  was  distinctly  unlike  the  English  middle  class,  composed 
of  yeomen  and  tenant  farmers,  in  that  it  was  almost  exclu- 
sively urban.  The  French  burghers  possessed  little  land, 
but  they  controlled  much  the  largest  portion  of  the  nation's 
working  capital.  They  were,  as  a  rule,  intelligent,  industri- 
ous, and  frugal,  and  it  is  to  be  observed  that,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Mirabeau,  Lafayette,  and  a  few  others,  the  leaders 
of  the  Revolution  sprang  almost  entirely  from  this  class,  and 
that  the  Revolution  itself  is  to  be  thought  of  as  a  bourgeois, 
rather  than  a  peasant,  movement.  The  bourgeoisie  was  well- 
read  and  patriotic.  It  resented  the  discriminations  con- 
stantly brought  to  bear  against  it  in  favor  of  the  privileged 
orders,  and  it  proposed  to  win  for  itself  public  recognition  and 
power  commensurate  with  its  intelligence,  wealth,  and  num- 
bers. But  for  bourgeois  leadership,  the  Revolution  might 
well  have  been  in  effect  nothing  more  than  a  sporadic  and 
hopeless  revolt  of  the  proletariat,  similar  to  other  uprisings 
by  which  the  peace  of  France  many  times  had  been  inter- 
rupted. 

France  in  the  eighteenth  century  was  still  predominantly 
an  agricultural  country.  It  is  estimated  that,  after  deduct- 
ing the  nobles,  the  clergy,  the  townspeople,  and  the  profes- 
sional men  who  dwelt  in  the  rural  districts,  fully  20,000,000 
of  her  people  lived  directly  from  tilling  the  soil.  In  Nor- 
mandy, Flanders,  Picardy,  and  some  of  the  other  northwest- 
ern provinces,  where  the  great  proprietors  were  accustomed 
to  let  their  land  in  considerable  areas,  there  may  be  said  to 
have  been  in  some  measure  an  agricultural  middle  class ;  but 
in  all  other  parts  of  the  kingdom  the  cultivators  of  the  soil 
were  exclusively  peasants.    Although  the  course  of  the  Revo- 


24     SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

lution  was  shaped  principally  by  the  burghers  and  artisans 
of  Paris  and  other  cities,  one  prime  cause  of  the  uprising  was 
very  clearly  the  distress  of  the  peasantry.  Precisely  what  the 
peasant  condition  was,  however,  in  1789  is  difficult  to  deter- 
mine. Not  that  there  is  any  lack  of  testimony.  The  letters, 
diaries,  books,  and  public  documents  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
both  French  and  non-French,  abound  in  allusions  to  the  sub- 
ject. The  difficulty  arises  from  two  facts  —  fi  st,  the  partial, 
haphazard,  and  sometimes  prejudiced  character  of  much  of 
this  contemporary  descriptive  literature,  and,  second,  the 
fundamental  consideration  that  conditions  varied  enormously 
from  province  to  province,  and  even  from  community  to  com- 
munity, so  that  no  single  description  which  will  be  universally 
accurate,  or  even  approximately  so,  can  possibly  be  made  up. 
The  best  account  that  has  come  down  to  us  from  a  first-hand 
authority  is  that  given  by  Arthur  Young,  an  enterprising 
English  gentleman  farmer,  who,  during  the  years  1787-89, 
travelled  extensively  in  France,  and  who  subsequently  (in 
1792)  published  his  observations  in  a  volume  of  "Travels." 
But  even  Young  did  not  visit  all  portions  of  the  country,  and 
the  conclusions  at  which  he  arrived  assume  too  frequently 
the  character  of  doubtful  generalizations. 

Emphasizing  the  fact  that  allowance  must  be  made  con- 
stantly for  exceptions,  there  may  be  brought  together,  in 
conclusion  of  this  survey,  a  few  of  the  more  noteworthy  as- 
pects of  the  peasant  situation.  In  the  first  place,  the  mass 
of  the  French  peasants  were  legally  free.  It  is  estimated  that 
at  the  accession  of  Louis  XVI.,  in  1774,  the  number  of  persons 
in  the  kingdom  who  were  in  law  more  or  less  unfree  did  not 
exceed  15,000;  and  the  number  was  further  reduced  before 
1789.  In  the  second  place,  a  very  considerable  number  of 
peasants  had  become  landholders.  What  this  number  was 
no  one  can  say,  but  good  authorities  accept  the  estimate  that 
two-fifths  of  the  soil  of  France  belonged  in  1789  to  the  so- 
called  Third  Estate  —  which  means,  in  effect,  very  largely 


THE  OLD   REGIME  IN  FRANCE  25 

to  the  peasantry.  The  quantity  of  land  owned  and  occupied 
by  the  peasants  was  tending  constantly  to  be  increased,  and 
some  writers  have  gone  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  by  the  time 
of  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  France  was  in  reality 
hardly  less  notable  for  the  number  of  its  petty  proprietorships 
than  it  is  to-day.  Of  the  great  body  of  peasant  non-land- 
holders, the  majority  were  metayers,  i.e.,  tenants  on  the  estates 
of  the  crown,  of  the  nobles,  and  of  the  clergy,  while  some  were 
ordinary  hired  laborers.  The  last-mentioned  class  appears 
to  have  been  as  well  off  as  its  counterpart  in  any  country  of 
Europe,  even  England.  But  the  mass  of  the  small  proprietors 
and  metayers,  while  individuals  of  both  groups  were  prosperous 
and  contented,  was  heavily  burdened  and,  by  1789,  ripe  for 
rebellion.  In  point  of  fact,  it  should  be  observed  that  the 
difference  between  the  small  proprietor  and  the  metayer  was 
less  considerable  than  might  be  supposed.  Most  of  the  little 
proprietors  were  what  the  lawyers  would  call  copyholders,  not 
freeholders ;  that  is  to  say,  they  had  acquired  their  bits  of 
land,  not  by  purchasing  them  outright  from  the  former  owner 
but  by  agreeing  to  render  to  him  perpetually  certain  rent- 
charges  and  services.  The  original  owner  had  been  commonly 
a  noble ;  so  that  the  average  petty  proprietor  found  himself 
in  1789  scarcely  freer  from  the  exactions  of  the  great  lord  of 
the  community  than  did  the  actual  tenant  upon  that  lord's 
remaining  estates. 

The  burdens  by  which  the  lot  of  the  peasant  was  apt  to  be 
embittered  fall  into  three  principal  groups.  The  first  and 
least  considerable  was  that  of  enforced  contribution  to  the 
support  of  the  Church,  through  the  medium  chiefly  of  fees 
and  of  the  tithe.  The  second  was  taxation  at  the  hand  of  the 
state.  The  third  and  most  vexatious  of  all  was  the  obliga- 
tions and  restrictions  imposed  by  the  privileged  orders.  Taxes 
were  both  direct  and  indirect.  Of  the  direct,  there  were  two  of 
principal  importance  —  the  tattle  and  the  corvee.  The  taille, 
or  land  tax,  was  of  feudal  origin,  and  in  the  Middle  Ages  it 


26  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

was  paid  by  the  tenant  to  the  lord  of  the  manor.  In  the 
fifteenth  century,  however,  its  yield  was  diverted  to  the  treas- 
ury of  the  state,  to  be  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
national  troops.  In  its  eighteenth  century  form  the  taille 
was  imposed  upon  the  profits  arising  not  only  from  land, 
but  from  all  manner  of  industry.  The  corvee  likewise  was  of 
manorial  origin,  and  it  continued  in  the  eighteenth  century 
to  be  exacted  in  many  instances  by  the  great  proprietors ; 
but  from  the  period  of  Louis  XIV.  it  was  made  use  of  exten- 
sively also  by  the  state,  taking  the  forms  chiefly  of  the  con- 
struction of  highways  and  canals  and  the  transportation  of 
the  baggage  of  the  soldiery.  The  burden  imposed  immedi- 
ately by  these  and  kindred  obligations  was  augmented  by  the 
arbitrariness  with  which  both  taille  and  corvee  were  assessed,1 
the  unfairness  with  which  they  were  administered,  the  fact 
that  the  nobles  and  clergy  were  exempted  from  them,  and  the 
notorious  extravagance  by  which  the  revenues  were  con- 
sumed at  court.  It  was  a  cruel  aggravation  of  the  misery  of 
the  poor,  says  Arthur  Young,  to  see  those  who  could  best 
afford  to  pay  exempted  because  they  were  able;  but  it  was 
"still  more  exasperating  to  observe  that  the  wealth  and  posi- 
tion of  the  privileged  depended  mainly  on  the  diversion  of 
the  tax  receipts  from  worthy  national  enterprises  to  the  purses 
of  private  individuals  who  rendered  absolutely  no  return." 

Of  indirect  taxes  there  were  many,  and  the  conditions  under 
which  they  were  imposed  and  collected  rendered  them  still 
more  obnoxious  than  the  taille  and  the  corvee.  They  con- 
sisted chiefly  in  the  forced  purchase  of  salt,  imposts  on  the 
production  of  wine  and  other  commodities,  and  tolls  and 
tariffs  imposed  upon  goods  carried  from  one  portion  of  the 
country  to  another.  The  viciousness  of  the  system  was  at 
its  maximum  in  the  gabelle,  or  salt  tax.     Every  householder 

1  "The  people  of  this  village,"  a  royal  inspector  is  reputed  to  have  written 
regarding  a  certain  community,  "are  stouter,  and  there  are  chicken  feathers 
before  the  doors;   the  taxes  here  should  be  greatly  increased  next  year." 


THE   OLD   REGIME  IN   FRANCE  2^ 

in  most  parts  of  France  was  compelled  to  purchase  every 
year  at  a  state  warehouse  seven  pounds  of  salt  for  each  mem- 
ber of  his  family  beyond  the  age  of  seven,  and  to  pay  for  the 
commodity  at  whatsoever  rate  custom  or  arbitrary  decree 
should  fix  in  any  given  district.  The  prices  asked  varied  so 
enormously  that  people  in  one  town  might  be  required  to  pay 
thirty  times  as  much  for  a  given  quantity  as  their  neighbors 
in  an  adjacent  region.  And  the  seven  pounds  mentioned 
must  be  reserved  for  table  consumption  alone.  If  a  pig  was 
slaughtered  and  the  flesh  was  to  be  salted,  the  head  of  the 
household  must  make  a  special  purchase  for  the  purpose.  To 
prevent  the  smuggling  of  so  precious  a  commodity  penalties 
were  laid,  comprising  fines,  flogging,  condemnation  to  the 
galleys,  and  death.  The  state  maintained  likewise  a  monop- 
oly of  the  sale  of  tobacco,  and  the  excises  on  wine  and  cider 
were  not  only  heavy  but  so  administered  as  to  inflict  upon 
both  consumer  and  producer  a  maximum  of  annoyance. 

The  obligations  which  were  due  from  the  peasant  to  the 
noble  or  great  churchman  upon  whose  lands  he  lived,  or  from 
whom  he  had  acquired  a  copyhold,  were  of  the  most  varied 
sorts.  As  a  rule,  there  was  the  corvee  seigneuriale,  or  require- 
ment of  unpaid  manual  labor,  not  unlikely  to  be  called  for 
precisely  when  the  peasant  desired  to  sow  his  own  seed  or 
harvest  his  own  crops.  There  were  generally,  too,  the  various 
banalites,  by  which  the  peasant  was  compelled  to  have  his 
grain  ground  at  the  seigneur's  mill,  his  bread  baked  at  the 
seigneur's  oven,  and  his  wine  made  at  the  seigneur's  wine-press, 
giving  over  a  goodly  proportion  of  the  product  in  payment 
for  the  service  rendered.  Tolls  there  were,  likewise,  which 
the  peasant  must  pay  for  the  carrying  of  his  marketable  goods 
on  the  highways  or  rivers.  And,  as  a  rule,  when  the  petty 
proprietor  proposed  to  sell  or  otherwise  alienate  his  bit  of  land, 
he  must  procure  the  seigneur's  permission  and  share  with  him 
the  proceeds.  More  obnoxious  still  was  the  droit  de  chasse, 
in  respect  of  which  every  kind  of  game  was  reserved  for  the 


28     SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

seigneur's  use  and  amusement.  Droves  of  wild  boars  and  deer 
wandered  at  will,  and  the  peasant  who  was  so  presumptuous 
as  to  attempt  to  protect  his  crops  made  himself  liable  to  con- 
demnation to  the  galleys  for  breach  of  seigneurial  privilege. 
His  growing  grain  might  at  any  time  be  trampled  under  foot 
with  impunity  by  lordly  hunting  parties.  Edicts  prohibited 
weeding  and  hoeing,  lest  the  young  partridges  be  disturbed ; 
the  steeping  of  seed,  lest  after  it  were  planted  the  pigeons 
should  eat  it  and  suffer ;  the  taking  of  stubble  from  meadows 
which  might  afford  the  small  game  shelter.  Even  when  the 
peasant  was  lucky  enough  to  secure  a  permit  to  fence  his  land, 
he  must  leave  open  spaces  through  which  the  huntsman's 
horses  might  gallop. 

"In  passing  through  many  of  the  French  provinces," 
Arthur  Young  tells  us,  "I  was  struck  with  the  various  and 
heavy  complaints  of  the  farmers  and  little  proprietors  of  the 
feudal  grievances  with  the  weight  of  which  their  industry  was 
burdened;  but  I  could  not  then  conceive  the  multiplicity 
of  the  shackles  which  kept  them  poor  and  depressed.  I 
understood  it  better  afterwards  from  the  conversation  and 
complaints  of  some  grand  seigneurs,  as  the  Revolution  ad- 
vanced ;  and  I  then  learned  that  the  principal  rental  of  many 
estates  consisted  of  services  and  feudal  tenures,  by  the  bane- 
ful influences  of  which  the  industry  of  the  people  was  almost 
exterminated."  De  Tocqueville,  whose  description  of  pre- 
revolutionary  France  has  never  been  wholly  superseded,  has 
a  passage  in  which  the  essential  helplessness  of  the  eighteenth 
century  peasant  is  described  with  vividness  and  substantial 
accuracy.  "Picture  to  yourself,"  he  says,  "a  French  peasant 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  so  enamored  of  the  soil  that  he  will 
spend  all  his  savings  to  purchase  it,  and  to  purchase  it  at  any 
price.  To  complete  this  purchase  he  must  first  pay  a  tax, 
not  to  the  government  but  to  other  landowners  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, as  unconnected  as  himself  with  the  administration 
of  public  affairs  and  hardly  more  influential  than  he  is.     He 


THE   OLD   REGIME   IN    FRANCE  2g 

possesses  it  at  last ;  his  heart  is  buried  in  it  with  the  seed  he 
sows.  This  little  nook  of  ground,  which  is  his  own  in  this 
vast  universe,  fills  him  with  pride  and  independence.  But 
again  these  neighbors  call  him  from  the  furrow,  and  compel 
him  to  come  to  work  for  them  without  wages.  He  tries  to 
defend  his  young  crop  from  their  game ;  again  they  prevent 
him.  As  he  crosses  the  river  they  wait  for  his  passage  to  levy 
a  toll.  He  finds  them  at  the  market,  where  they  sell  him  the 
right  of  selling  his  own  produce;  and  when  on  his  return 
home  he  wants  to  use  the  remainder  of  his  wheat  for  his  own 
subsistence,  he  cannot  touch  it  till  he  has  ground  it  at  the  mill 
and  baked  it  at  the  bakehouse  of  these  same  men.  A  portion 
of  the  income  of  his  little  property  is  paid  away  in  quit-rents 
to  them  also,  and  these  dues  can  neither  be  extinguished  nor 
redeemed.  Whatever  he  does,  these  troublesome  neighbors 
are  everywhere  on  his  path  to  disturb  his  happiness,  to  inter- 
fere with  his  labor,  to  consume  his  profits ;  and  when  these  are 
dismissed,  others  in  the  black  garb  of  the  Church  present 
themselves  to  carry  off  the  clearest  profit  of  the  harvest. 
Picture  to  yourself  the  condition,  the  wants,  the  character, 
the  passion  of  this  man,  and  compute,  if  you  are  able,  the 
stores  of  hatred  and  envy  which  are  accumulated  in  his 
heart."  1 

1  De  Tocqueville,  "  State  of   Society  in  France  before   the  Revolution  of 
1789,"  5S-56. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  REVOLUTION   IN   FRANCE 

In  a  characteristic  vein  of  flamboyancy  Disraeli  once  de- 
clared that  there  are  only  two  events  in  history  —  the  siege 
of  Troy  and  the  French  Revolution.  No  assertion,  of  course, 
could  well  be  more  absurd,  but  underlying  the  remark  is  at 
least  this  truth,  that  from  no  enumeration  of  really  great 
historical  occurrences,  it  matters  not  how  restricted  it  may 
be,  can  the  French  Revolution  by  any  possibility  be  omitted. 
By  the  phrase  "French  Revolution,"  however,  must  be  under- 
stood, not  the  carnival  of  license  and  disorder  through  which 
France,  between  the  storming  of  the  Bastile  and  the  fall  of 
Robespierre,  was  called  upon  to  pass,  but  rather  the  funda- 
mental transformation  which,  between  the  assembling  of  the 
States  General  in  1789  and  the  establishment  of  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Year  III  in  1795,  was  wrought  in  the  political, 
social,  and  economic  texture  of  the  French  nation.  The  im- 
portance of  the  Revolution  arises,  first,  from  the  far-reaching 
effects  of  the  movement  upon  the  development  of  modern 
France,  and,  second,  from  the  stimulating  and  re-creating 
influences  which  it  exerted  in  some  measure  upon  all  of  the 
states  of  western  Europe.  Within  France  its  full  conse- 
quences were  by  no  means  realized  within  the  space  of  the 
years  that  have  been  mentioned.  As  will  be  pointed  out,  the 
era  of  Napoleon's  domination  witnessed  a  remarkable  ampli- 
fication and  adaptation  of  the  Revolution's  essential  accom- 
plishments. And  beyond  France  it  was  not  until  after  the 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  that,  largely  again  in  the 
course  of  the  Napoleonic  ascendancy,  the  transforming  in- 
fluence of  the  French  overturn  began  on  a  considerable  scale 

3° 


THE   REVOLUTION  IN  FRANCE  31 

to  produce  practical  effects.  "The  nineteenth  century," 
says  Mr.  Frederic  Harrison  in  one  of  his  suggestive  essays, 
"is  precisely  the  history  of  the  work  which  the  French  Revolu- 
tion left.  The  Revolution  was  a  creating  force  even  more 
than  a  destroying  one ;  it  was  an  inexhaustible  source  of  fer- 
tile influences ;  it  not  only  cleared  the  ground  of  the  old  society, 
but  it  manifested  all  of  the  elements  of  the  new  society." 
More  immediately,  the  assertion  applies  to  France;  but,  in 
the  stretch  of  time,  it  expresses  not  inaptly  the  significance 
of  the  Revolution  for  the  whole  of  Europe. 

The  question  may  well  be  asked  why  the  overturning  of 
the  ancien  regime  should  have  come  first  in  France  rather  than 
in  Germany,  in  Italy,  or  in  Austria.  In  the  first  place,  it  was 
not  because  conditions  were  less  favorable  in  France  than 
elsewhere.  If  they  were  worse  than  in  England,  the  Neth- 
erlands, northern  Italy,  and  a  few  favored  portions  of  Ger- 
many, they  were  indubitably  better,  on  the  whole,  than  in 
Spain,  Austria,  southern  Italy,  Ireland,  Russia,  and  most 
of  the  German  states.  In  the  second  place,  it  was  not  be- 
cause conditions  in  France  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  were  actually  worse  than  they  had  been  at  earlier 
periods  of  the  nation's  history.  Conditions  were  bad  enough, 
but  if  we  are  to  credit  the  statements  of  Arthur  Young,  and 
likewise  those  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  who,  in  1787,  made  some- 
what extended  observations,  considerable  portions  of  the 
French  people,  even  of  the  peasantry,  were,  on  the  eve  of  the 
Revolution,  quite  as  prosperous  as  their  ancestors  seem  ever 
to  have  been.  Finally,  the  revolutionizing  of  France  is  not 
to  be  explained  by  any  sheer  assumption  of  inherent  instabil- 
ity or  fickleness  on  the  part  of  the  French  people. 

Precisely  why  the  revolution  came  first  in  France  is  one 
of  those  questions  to  which  a  positive  and  conclusive  answer 
can  hardly  be  expected.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  certain  cir- 
cumstances were  favorable.  The  impending  bankruptcy  of 
the  state  compelled  resort  to  heroic  measures,  involving  the 


32  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

summons  of  the  States  General,  and  thus  afforded  peculiar 
opportunity  for  a  rupture  between  the  people  and  the  con- 
stituted authorities.  The  concentration  of  population  — 
particularly  the  discontented  elements  —  at  the  capital  ac- 
centuated the  inflammable  character  of  the  situation.  The 
fact  that  France  was  one  nation,  with  consciousness  of  com- 
munity of  interest,  rather  than  a  mere  congeries  of  essentially 
independent  states,  as  were  Germany  and  Italy,  favored 
likewise  the  chances  that  any  general  uprising  would  assume 
such  proportions  as  virtually  to  insure  some  substantial 
measure  of  success.  But  much  the  most  important  considera- 
tion arises  from  the  superior  enlightenment  of  the  French 
people,  especially  the  middle  classes,  in  the  later  eighteenth 
century.  The  man  who  is  oppressed  but  supposes  that  all 
men  everywhere,  at  least  of  his  station,  are  oppressed,  is 
likely  to  plod  on  stolidly  and  without  hope.  The  man  who 
is  oppressed  and  feels  his  oppression,  but  has  not  the  percep- 
tion or  breadth  of  view  to  comprehend  the  illogical  and  un- 
natural aspect  of  his  position,  will  be  discontented,  but  is  likely 
to  accept  what  he  regards  as  the  inevitable.  The  man,  on 
the  other  hand,  who  is  oppressed,  who  knows  how  superior 
is  the  lot  of  other  men  who  in  capacity  and  in  industry  are  his 
equals,  and  who  recognizes  in  the  conditions  by  which  he  is 
kept  down  perversions  of  natural  or  practicable  conditions 
in  the  interest  of  a  favored,  unproductive,  and  unapprecia- 
tive  class,  is  certain  not  only  to  be  discontented  but  to  be 
open  to  inducement  to  strike  in  behalf  of  his  rights.  Therein 
lies  no  small  part  of  the  philosophy  of  the  Revolution  in 
France. 

Among  European  countries  the  wonderfully  stimulating 
intellectual  movement  of  the  eighteenth  century  worked 
itself  out  more  completely  in  France  than  in  any  other. 
Many,  as  Spain  and  Austria,  were  hardly  touched  by  it  at  all. 
At  the  hands  of  the  philosophers,  essayists,  and  publicists  of 
the  age  of  Louis  XV.  and  Louis  XVI.,  the  French  nation 


THE   REVOLUTION    IN   FRANCE 


33 


received  a  veritable  education  in  human  liberty,  and  this 
fresh  enlightenment  was  not  without  both  immediateness  and 
power  of  appeal.  When,  for  example,  Voltaire  proclaimed 
the  doctrine  that  men  should  rely  unceasingly  upon  reason, 
it  was  inevitable  enough  that  sharp-witted  Frenchmen  should 
arrive  at  the  conclusion  that,  the  peculiar  privileges  of  the 
nobility  and  the  clergy  being  essentially  unreasonable,  those 
privileges  ought  to  be  swept  away.  When  the  same  critic 
affirmed  squarely  that  the  clergy  ought  to  be  made  to  pay 
taxes  upon  their  property  precisely  as  did  the  burghers  and 
the  peasantry,  the  argument  was  not  difficult  to  drive  home. 
When  Montesquieu  expounded  the  advantages  of  the  limited 
monarchy  of  Great  Britain,  and  Rousseau  gave  the  appear- 
ance at  least  of  demonstrating  that,  no  man  ever  having  been 
given  a  right  to  rule  over  other  men  in  opposition  to  their 
will,  the  real  sovereign  is  the  people  and  law  is  but  the  ex- 
pression of  the  popular  will,  the  conclusion  did  not  fail  to 
burn  itself  into  the  consciousness  of  intelligent  men  that 
the  eighteenth  century  Bourbon  absolutism,  by  which  were 
bolstered  up  both  privilege  and  oppression,  ought  to  be  tem- 
pered in  the  interest  of  common  justice.  The  Norman  or 
Gascon  peasant  may  never  so  much  as  have  heard  of  the 
"Handy  Philosophic  Dictionary"  or  of  the  "Social  Contract," 
but  the  merchant,  the  banker,  the  lawyer,  the  physician,  the 
student  —  in  short,  the  bourgeoisie  —  heard  and  were  moved ; 
and,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  the  Revolution  was  in  large 
part  the  work  of  this  same  well-informed,  ambitious,  capable, 
and  discontented  burgher  class. 

The  intelligent  perception  which  lay  thus  at  the  basis  of  the 
Revolution  was  responsible  for  much  of  the  remarkable  en- 
thusiasm with  which  the  movement  in  its  earlier  stages  was 
attended.  "The  French  people,"  says  De  Tocqueville,  "made 
in  1789  the  greatest  effort  which  was  ever  undertaken  by  any 
nation  to  cut,  so  to  speak,  its  destiny  in  halves,  and  to  sepa- 
rate by  an  abyss  that  which  it  had  hitherto  been  from  that 


34     SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

which  it  sought  to  become  thereafter."  The  statement  is 
hardly  too  strong.  Once  aroused,  the  revolutionists  ad- 
vanced from  pinnacle  to  pinnacle  of  radicalism,  deliberately 
seeking  to  detach  the  nation  from  its  past  by  a  chasm  im- 
possible to  be  bridged.  The  havoc  which,  within  two  years 
from  the  meeting  of  the  States  General,  was  made  of  the  an- 
cient institutions  of  France,  in  part  by  legislative  action  and 
in  part  by  popular  violence,  has  never  been  equalled  in  the 
history  of  any  civilized  people.  "In  order  to  regret  the  past," 
wrote  a  French  publicist  in  1772,  "one  must  be  ignorant  of 
what  it  was."  The  men  by  whom  France  was  transformed 
in  1789-94  knew  only  too  well  what  the  past  had  been,  and 
in  divorcing  themselves  from  it  they  cherished  no  misgivings. 
"We  had  no  regret  for  the  past,"  wrote  Louis  XVI. 's  former 
war  minister  Segur  in  his  "Memoires,"  "and  no  inquietude  for 
the  future.  What  was  ancient  appeared  to  us  wearisome 
and  ridiculous.  We  believed  that  we  were  entering  a  golden 
age  of  which  past  centuries  gave  no  idea,  and  in  the  future 
we  saw  only  the  good  that  could  be  secured  for  humanity  by 
the  reign  of  reason.  We  were  disciples  of  new  doctrines; 
the  prejudices  and  pedantry  of  old  customs  seemed  absurd. 
It  was  impossible  that  we  should  not  receive  with  enthu- 
siasm the  hopes  which  men  of  genius  held  out  to  us  of  a 
future  where  humanity,  tolerance,  and  liberty  should  reign 
instead  of  the  errors,  follies,  and  prejudices  which  had  so  long 
enslaved  and  embittered  the  world.  We  were  soothed  by  the 
seductive  dreams  of  a  philosophy  that  sought  to  assure  the 
happiness  of  the  race.  Voltaire  charmed  our  intelligence, 
and  Rousseau  touched  our  hearts."  "The  chiefs  of  the  Revo- 
lution," another  contemporary  tells  us,  "imagined  that  they 
were  assembled  to  retrieve  every  fault  of  the  past,  to  correct 
every  error  of  the  human  mind,  and  to  secure  the  happiness 
of  future  generations ;  doubt  had  no  place  in  their  minds  and 
infallibility  presided  perpetually  over  all  of  their  contradic- 
tory decrees."    The  idea  was  dominant,  too,  that  what  was 


THE   REVOLUTION   IN   FRANCE  35 

being  done  for  France  was  done  not  for  France  alone,  but  for 
the  world.  "France,"  declared  the  father  of  Mirabeau, 
thirty  years  before  the  fall  of  the  Bastile,  "must  become  the 
arbiter  of  the  world,  that  she  may  insure  the  happiness  of  all 
people ;  she  must  destroy  exclusive  privileges,  and  leave 
nature  and  honest  toil  to  bring  felicity."  The  task  to  which 
the  enthusiasts  of  1789  addressed  themselves  was  nothing 
less  than  the  regeneration  of  a  continent;  and  the  most 
remarkable  aspect  of  the  Revolution  lies  in  the  very  great 
measure  in  which,  more  slowly  than  was  hoped  and  in  ways 
largely  unforeseen,  this  gigantic  task  was  accomplished. 

For  the  purposes  in  hand  there  is  no  need  to  review  here 
the  history,  military,  diplomatic,  or  political,  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Our  interest  lies  rather  in  the  changes  of  a  permanent 
character  which  were  wrought  by  the  movement,  immediately 
and  ultimately,  in  the  status  of  the  individual  Frenchman  and 
in  that  of  the  men  of  other  nationalities  who,  especially  in 
the  era  of  Napoleon,  were  brought  under  French  revolution- 
izing influence.  The  Revolution  proper  began  with  the  con- 
stitution of  the  National  Assembly,  in  June,  1789,  and  closed 
with  the  fall  of  Robespierre,  in  July,  1794,  or  perhaps  better 
with  the  establishment  of  the  government  of  the  Directory, 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  Year  III,  in  November,  1795. 
Most  of  its  permanently  important  achievements,  however, 
fell  within  the  first  twelve  months  of  this  period.  It  but 
remained  for  the  revolutionists  later,  and  subsequently 
Napoleon,  to  coordinate,  amplify,  and  readjust  the  modifica- 
tions of  the  social  order  for  which  the  National  Assembly 
was  in  the  first  instance  responsible. 

The  National  Assembly  was  constituted  by  representatives 
of  the  Third  Estate  who  gathered  at  Versailles  in  May,  1789, 
in  response  to  a  summons  of  the  ancient  States  General. 
The  intention  of  the  king  and  of  his  chief  minister,  Necker, 
was  that  the  three  estates  should  proceed  in  the  traditional 
manner,  deliberating  and  voting  separately,  to  take  under 


36     SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

consideration  the  perilous  condition  of  the  country.  When, 
however,  the  members  assembled,  the  deputies  of  the  Third 
Estate,  recognizing  that  under  the  customary  procedure  they 
would  be  outvoted  by  the  privileged  orders,  refused  to 
organize  as  a  separate  chamber.  Instead,  they  invited  re- 
peatedly the  clergy  and  nobility  to  join  them  in  the  forma- 
tion of  one  great  deliberative  body  in  which  votes  should  be 
cast,  not  by  orders,  but  by  individuals.  When  the  various 
quotas  entitled  to  be  present  upon  this  occasion  were  complete, 
the  nobles  numbered  285  and  the  clergy  308 ;  but  the  com- 
moners numbered  621 ;  and,  furthermore,  fully  two-thirds 
of  the  clerical  members  were  cures,  who  were  generally  ill- 
disposed  toward  the  privileged  classes  and  were  likely  to 
cast  in  their  influence  with  the  Third  Estate.  Preservation 
of  the  balance  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  nobility  and  clergy 
demanded,  therefore,  that  the  separateness  of  the  three  orders 
be  continued.  Rebuffed  but  unyielding,  the  deputies  of  the 
people,  June  17,  declared  themselves  a  National  Assembly; 
and  when  the  king  sought  to  compel  an  abandonment  of  the 
position  that  had  been  taken,  they  entered  into  a  solemn 
compact  —  the  "tennis-court  oath"  of  June  20  —  never 
to  separate  until  "the  constitution  of  the  kingdom  should  be 
established  and  placed  upon  a  firm  foundation."  At  an 
early  stage  of  the  controversy  more  than  half  of  the  deputies 
of  the  clergy  formally  joined  the  Assembly,  and  eventually, 
when  no  other  course  was  open,  and  at  the  command  of  the 
king,  the  nobles  and  remaining  clergy  did  the  same.  Thus, 
by  the  boldness  of  the  popular  leaders  an  antiquated  organiza- 
tion of  feudal  estates  was  converted  into  the  first  modern 
national  representative  assembly  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 
It  was  through  the  instrumentality  of  this  assembly,  domi- 
nated by  the  intelligent,  progressive,  enthusiastic  bour- 
geoisie, that,  in  the  main,  the  real  work  of  revolution  was 
accomplished. 
The  most  comprehensive  and  authoritative  statement  of  the 


THE   REVOLUTION  IN  FRANCE  37 

principles  underlying  the  Revolution  is  comprised  in  a  memo- 
able  instrument  adopted  by  the  Assembly,  August  26,  1789, 
and  entitled  "A  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man  and  of  the 
Citizen."  In  many  of  the  cahiers  (lists  of  grievances  and  of 
suggested  reforms  drawn  up  throughout  the  country,  at  the 
request  of  the  king,  when  the  members  of  the  States  General 
were  being  elected)  demand  was  made  that  there  be  framed 
a  systematic  enumeration  of  the  rights  of  the  individual 
citizen,  and  it  was  in  compliance  with  this  demand,  as  well  as 
for  the  guidance  of  its  own  deliberations,  that  the  Assembly 
promulgated  the  Declaration.  The  instrument  comprised 
from  the  outset  the  working  program  of  revolution  in  France, 
and  in  subsequent  times  it  became  a  touchstone  of  liberalism 
in  numerous  other  nations.  Portions  of  it  are  embodied 
to-day  in  not  a  few  European  constitutions.  Assuming  that 
"ignorance,  neglect,  or  contempt  of  the  rights  of  man  are 
the  sole  cause  of  public  calamities  and  of  the  corruption  of 
governments,"  the  authors  of  the  document  proceeded,  first, 
to  define  what  seemed  to  them  the  fundamental  principles 
of  society  and,  second,  to  enumerate  more  specifically  the 
"natural,  inalienable,  and  sacred"  rights  arising  inevitably 
from  those  principles.  The  principles  may  best  be  stated  in 
the  language  of  the  Declaration.  "Men,"  it  is  affirmed,  "are 
born  and  remain  free  and  equal  in  rights.  Social  distinctions 
may  be  founded  only  upon  the  general  good.  The  aim  of  all 
political  association  is  the  preservation  of  the  natural  and 
imprescriptible  rights  of  man.  These  rights  are  liberty, 
property,  security,  and  resistance  to  oppression.  The  prin- 
ciple of  all  sovereignty  resides  essentially  in  the  nation.  No 
body  nor  individual  may  exercise  any  authority  which  does 
not  proceed  directly  from  the  nation.  Liberty  consists  in 
the  freedom  to  do  everything  which  injures  no  one  else ;  hence 
the  exercise  of  the  natural  rights  of  each  man  has  no  limits 
except  those  which  assure  to  the  other  members  of  the  society 
the  enjoyment  of  the  same  rights.    These  limits  can  be  deter- 


38     SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

mined  only  by  law.  Law  can  prohibit  only  such  actions  as 
are  hurtful  to  society.  Nothing  may  be  prevented  which  is 
not  forbidden  by  law,  and  no  one  may  be  forced  to  do  any- 
thing not  provided  for  by  law.  Law  is  the  expression  of  the 
public  will.  Every  citizen  has  a  right  to  participate  person- 
ally, or  through  his  representative,  in  its  formation.  It  must 
be  the  same  for  all,  whether  it  protects  or  punishes." 

From  these  general  principles  the  framers  of  the  Declara- 
tion advanced  to  an  enumeration  of  specific  rights.  The 
rights  which  they  named  were  naturally  those,  for  the  larger 
part,  that  had  most  commonly  been  ignored  or  violated  in  the 
days  of  the  Old  Regime.  Some  pertained  to  the  status  of  the 
individual  and  some  to  property.  "No  person,"  it  was  as- 
serted, "shall  be  accused,  arrested,  or  imprisoned,  except  in 
the  cases  and  according  to  the  forms  prescribed  by  law.  .  .  . 
The  law  shall  provide  for  such  punishments  only  as  are  strictly 
and  obviously  necessary,  and  no  one  shall  suffer  punishment 
except  it  be  legally  inflicted  in  virtue  of  a  law  passed  and  pro- 
mulgated before  the  commission  of  the  offence.  .  .  .  No  one 
shall  be  disquieted  on  account  of  his  opinions,  including  his 
religious  views,  provided  their  manifestation  does  not  disturb 
the  public  order  established  by  law.  The  free  communica- 
tion of  ideas  and  opinions  is  one  of  the  most  precious  of  the 
rights  of  man.  Every  citizen  may,  accordingly,  speak,  write, 
and  print  with  freedom,  but  shall  be  responsible  for  such 
abuses  of  this  freedom  as  shall  be  defined  by  law.  ...  All 
the  citizens  have  a  right  to  decide,  either  personally  or  by 
their  representatives,  as  to  the  necessity  of  the  public  contri- 
bution [i.e.,  taxes];  to  grant  this  freely;  to  know  to  what 
uses  it  is  put ;  and  to  fix  the  proportion,  the  mode  of  assess- 
ment and  of  collection,  and  the  duration  of  the  taxes." 
With  respect  to  the  rights  of  property  it  was  declared  that 
"since  property  is  an  inviolable  and  sacred  right,  no  one  shall 
be  deprived  thereof  except  where  public  necessity,  legally 
determined,  shall  clearly  demand  it,  and  then  only  on  condi- 


THE   REVOLUTION   IN  FRANCE  39 

tion  that  the  owner  shall  have  been  previously  and  equitably 
indemnified."  1 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  at  any  time,  even  during  the 
briefest  period,  the  system  of  perfect  democracy,  justice,  and 
order  outlined  in  the  Declaration  was  anywhere  carried  into 
operation.  For  example,  despite  all  of  the  theories  which 
the  Assembly  avowed  respecting  the  right  of  every  citizen 
to  participate,  "personally  or  through  his  representative," 
in  the  making  of  law  and  the  levying  of  taxes,  when  the  body 
came  to  frame  a  new  constitution  for  the  kingdom  it  excluded 
from  the  franchise  all  citizens  who  did  not  pay  a  direct  tax 
to  the  state  equivalent  to  at  least  the  value  of  three  days' 
labor.  None  the  less,  large  portions  of  the  Declaration  were 
realized  in  effect,  and  many  of  the  principles  enunciated  in  it 
have  lain  continuously  at  the  basis  of  French  law  and  polity 
to  our  own  day. 

Of  changes  actually  wrought  between  1789  and  1794  in  the 
fundamentals  of  French  society,  three  are  of  principal  impor- 
tance. The  first  was  the  abolition  of  privilege ;  the  second, 
the  reconstitution  of  the  Church;  the  third,  the  remodelling 
of  the  state.  These  changes  were  accomplished  formally  by 
legislation,  but  to  a  large  degree  practically  by  popular  vio- 
lence. After  the  nation-wide  insurrection  which  followed,  in 
July,  1789,  the  destruction  of  the  Bastile,  the  ancient  admin- 
istrative, military,  and  agrarian  systems  of  the  kingdom  were 
speedily  involved  in  utter  destruction.  In  the  cities  and 
towns  generally  the  municipal  authorities  were  overthrown, 
and  new  ones  elected  by  the  people  were  set  up.  Intend- 
ants,  subdelegates,  police,  royal  and  feudal  courts  of  justice 
disappeared,  and  the  collection  of  revenue  was  all  but  termi- 
nated. The  standing  army,  honeycombed  with  insubordina- 
tion, became  unreliable,  and  eventually  broke  up  utterly. 
In  its  place  appeared  innumerable  militia  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  the  Revolution.     Throughout  the  provinces  the  ex- 

1  Translated  in  Robinson,  "  Readings  in  European  History,"  II.,  409-411. 


40     SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

cited  peasantry  rose  against  their  oppressors,  burned  manor- 
houses,  destroyed  manorial  records,  slaughtered  some  seign- 
eurs and  drove  others  by  the  thousands  into  the  towns  or 
across  the  borders,  and  threw  off  entirely  the  fiscal  and  other 
obligations  which  had  been  imposed  upon  them  by  the  Church. 
So  thoroughgoing  was  this  work  of  destruction  that  in  the 
reconstitution  of  French  society  it  became  necessary  for  the 
central  governing  organs  merely  to  legalize  and  perpetuate 
what  had  been  done  and  to  build  upon  ground  already  largely 
cleared  by  popular  initiative. 

The  formal  abolition  of  privilege,  which  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  average  man  was  the  achievement  of  largest 
moment,  was  accomplished  by  a  series  of  measures  passed 
chiefly  during  a  frenzied  session  of  the  Assembly  on  the  night 
of  August  4-5,  1789.  Amidst  what  Mirabeau  termed  "an 
orgy  of  sacrifice,"  the  aristocrats  of  the  body  literally  vied 
with  one  another  in  the  surrender  of  peculiar  rights  which 
through  hundreds  of  years  had  been  preserved  with  the  most 
uncompromising  tenacity.  All  survivals  of  the  feudal  sys- 
tem were  entirely  abolished.  All  rights  and  dues  originating 
in  or  incident  to  serfdom  were  likewise  abolished  without  in- 
demnification, and  all  other  dues  were  declared  "redeemable." 
Manorial  courts  were  ordered  to  be  suppressed  universally 
as  soon  as  a  new  judicial  system  could  be  provided.  Taxes 
were  to  be  collected  "from  all  citizens  and  upon  all  property" 
in  the  same  form ;  and  with  the  understanding  that  some 
other  means  should  be  found  for  the  support  of  the  clergy 
and  the  maintenance  of  charity,  the  eventual  abolition  of  all 
tithes  was  decreed.  The  exclusive  right  of  the  lords  to  main- 
tain pigeon-houses  and  dove-cotes  was  swept  away,  and  there- 
after the  peasant  might  drive  off  or  kill  with  impunity  the 
game  that  sought  to  prey  upon  his  growing  crops.  In  legal 
status,  in  public  obligation,  and  in  public  and  private  right5 
the  principle  of  thoroughgoing  equality  was  effectually  in- 
troduced, never  thereafter  to  be  wholly  subverted. 


THE  REVOLUTION  IN   FRANCE  41 

A  notable  bulwark  of  privilege  remained,  however,  in  the 
Church,  and  against  the  prevailing  ecclesiastical  system  the 
Assembly  levelled  a  determined  and  irresistible  attack.  As 
has  been  pointed  out,  the  law  by  which  were  abolished  the 
survivals  of  feudalism  and  serfdom  contemplated  the  with- 
drawal from  the  Church  of  the  revenue  from  which  perhaps 
two-fifths  of  the  aggregate  ecclesiastical  income  arose,  i.e., 
the  tithe.  Swiftly  the  idea  grew  that  the  state  ought  to 
take  over  and  administer  the  vast  accumulation  of  property 
in  the  possession  of  the  Church,  not  only  because  as  the 
Church  was  constituted  it  comprised  virtually  a  state  within 
a  state,  but  because  the  ecclesiastical  organization,  as  was 
charged,  had  failed  to  perform  its  proper  work  and  to  re- 
ward such  of  its  own  servants  as  had  been  faithful  to  their 
trusts.  November  2,  1789,  the  Assembly  decreed  that  "all 
ecclesiastical  possessions  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  nation  on 
condition  that  it  shall  provide  properly  for  the  expenses  of 
maintaining  religious  services,  for  the  support  of  those  who 
conduct  them,  and  for  the  succor  of  the  poor."  By  a  stroke 
the  Church  was  shorn  of  its  property  and  the  clergy  was  con- 
verted into  a  state-employed,  salaried  body  of  functionaries. 
The  revenues,  lands,  and  other  belongings  of  bishops,  priests, 
and  monks  were  inventoried,  and,  under  law  of  December  19, 
the  larger  portion  of  what  was  salable  was  put  on  the  market. 
By  a  measure  of  February,  1790,  monastic  vows  were  re- 
lieved of  their  binding  character,  and  the  inmates  of  religious 
houses  were  left  free  to  return  to  the  world,  existing  religious 
orders  were  abolished  and  the  introduction  of  new  ones  was 
prohibited,  and  all  remaining  monastic  property  was  made 
available  for  secular  purposes.  Orders  engaged  in  charity 
or  education,  and  likewise  convents  of  women,  however,  were 
undisturbed,  and  provision  was  made  that  monks  who  should 
desire  to  continue  their  former  mode  of  life  should  be  sup- 
ported by  pensions  paid  by  the  state. 

Subsequently  (July  12,   1790)  there  was  promulgated  a 


42      SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

notable  instrument,  the  Civil  Constitution  of  the  Clergy, 
whereby  the  entire  organization  of  the  Church  was  overhauled, 
simplified,  and  systematized.  The  134  ancient  bishoprics 
were  abolished,  and  in  their  stead  were  established  83  new 
ones,  each  coterminous  with  one  of  the  departments  into 
which,  for  purposes  of  administration,  the  country  had  lately 
been  divided.  The  83  bishoprics  were  grouped  in  ten  dis- 
tricts, each  presided  over  by  a  "metropolitan."  All  bishops 
and  parish  priests,  after  the  manner  of  civil  officials,  were 
to  be  elected  by  the  people,  and  all  were  to  look  entirely  to 
the  state  for  their  means  of  support.  Every  clergyman, 
prior  to  assuming  the  duties  of  his  position,  must  take  oath 
"to  be  loyal  to  the  nation,  the  law,  and  the  king,  and  to  sup- 
port with  all  his  power  the  constitution  decreed  by  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  and  accepted  by  the  king."  To  avert  the 
abuses  of  absenteeism,  which  prior  to  1789  had  been  so  much 
complained  of,  it  was  enjoined  by  law  that  ecclesiastics 
without  exception  should  reside  within  the  districts  under 
their  charge.  Save  in  the  case  of  urgent  necessity,  and  with 
the  consent  of  the  directory  of  the  department  in  which  his 
diocese  lay,  a  bishop  might  not  lawfully  absent  himself  from 
his  field  of  labor  during  more  than  two  weeks  consecutively 
in  the  course  of  a  year. 

On  the  part  of  the  more  conservative  of  the  ecclesiastics 
the  changes  thus  introduced  were  opposed  with  the  utmost 
vigor,  and  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  system  contemplated  in 
the  Civil  Constitution  was  ever  fully  in  effect.  With  the 
kaleidoscopic  changes  through  which  the  state  itself  passed 
during  the  ensuing  decade  came  frequent  alterations  in  the 
status  of  the  Church  and  of  the  relations  sustained  between 
church  and  state.  Eventually,  in  Napoleon's  famous  treaty 
with  the  papacy  (the  Concordat  of  1801),  it  was  arranged 
that  the  French  bishoprics  should  be  reconstituted,  that  the 
bishops  should  be  appointed  by  the  head  of  the  state  and 
confirmed  by  the  pope,  that  the  parish  priests  should  be  ap- 


THE  REVOLUTION   IN  FRANCE  43 

pointed  by  the  bishops,  that  both  bishops  and  priests  should 
receive  compensation  from  the  state,  and  that  clerical  officials 
should  continue  to  take  oath  to  the  state.  But  the  Church 
as  it  was  in  the  eighteenth  century,  with  its  lands  and  its 
feudal  authority,  its  courts  and  its  tithes,  its  independence 
and  its  privileges,  had  disappeared  forever.  Its  abolition 
was  the  work  of  but  a  few  months,  and  the  newly  constituted 
Church,  whose  principal  aspects  have  just  been  noted,  was 
destined  to  continue  substantially  unchanged  throughout 
the  nineteenth  century. 

Of  the  political  transformations  wrought  by  the  Revolution 
it  is  impossible  to  speak  at  length.  Two  were  of  fundamental 
importance  —  the  legal  and  administrative  unification  of  the 
state  and  the  introduction  of  the  principle  of  constitutional- 
ism. It  has  been  pointed  out  that,  despite  the  centraliza- 
tion which  in  some  regards  had  reached  so  advanced  a  stage 
prior  to  1789,  the  French  nation  was  strikingly  lacking  in 
many  of  the  most  essential  elements  of  unity.  Even  in 
matters  of  law  and  government  local  custom  preponderated 
and  variation  was  the  rule.  Not  until  the  Revolution  did 
France  achieve  that  solidarity  and  uniformity  of  institutional 
life  which  to-day  is  borne  in  upon  the  observer  at  every  turn. 
From  the  principles  of  equal  civic  rights  and  obligations  laid 
down  by  the  National  Assembly  in  its  Declaration  of  1789  it 
followed  that  not  only  inequalities  arising  from  clerical  and 
aristocratic  privilege  should  be  abolished,  but  likewise  in- 
equalities arising  from  heterogeneity  of  law,  local  custom,  and 
administrative  practice.  And,  logically  enough,  both  sorts 
of  inequality  were  overthrown  by  the  same  public  act.  "In- 
asmuch," says  the  final  decree  of  August  11,  1789,  by  which 
feudalism  was  abolished,  "as  a  national  constitution  and 
public  liberty  are  of  more  advantage  to  the  provinces  than 
the  privileges  which  some  of  these  enjoy,  and  inasmuch  as  the 
surrender  of  such  privileges  is  essential  to  the  intimate  union 
of  all  parts  of  the  realm,  it  is  decreed  that  all  of  the  peculiar 


44     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

privileges,  pecuniary  or  otherwise,  of  the  provinces,  princi- 
palities, districts,  cantons,  cities,  and  communes,  are  once 
for  all  abolished  and  are  absorbed  into  the  laws  common  to 
all  Frenchmen."  The  constitutional  status  of  France 
throughout  the  ensuing  century  fluctuated  more  widely  than 
did  that  of  any  contemporary  European  state,  but  from  the 
fundamental  principle  of  this  decree  no  departure  was  ever 
made.  Since  1789  what  has  been  law  in  one  portion  of  the 
country  has  been,  excepting,  of  course,  purely  local  regula- 
tions, law  in  every  other.  The  agencies  and  methods  of 
government  have  been  made  everywhere  the  same.  Even 
the  eighteenth  century  provinces,  inseparably  associated  as 
they  were  with  traditions  of  feudal  disunion,  were  obliterated, 
and  in  the  place  of  them  were  erected  the  substantially  equal 
and  essentially  artificial  departments  of  the  present  day, 
whose  names,  even,  possess  no  historical  significance,  being 
appropriated  as  a  rule  from  rivers,  mountains,  or  other  adja- 
cent physical  features.  So  far,  indeed,  was  the  idea  of  uni- 
formity carried  by  the  revolutionists,  and  by  their  successors, 
that  the  principle,  as  at  present  applied,  is  sometimes  ad- 
judged almost  as  disadvantageous  on  the  one  side  as  was  the 
former  heterogeneity  on  the  other.  Yet  it  is  of  importance 
in  any  well-ordered  state  that  a  citizen  of  one  section  shall 
entertain  confidence  that  the  law  under  which  he  is  judged 
is  the  law  under  which  his  fellow-citizens  everywhere  are 
judged,  and  that  the  public  burdens  which  he  is  required  to 
bear  are  being  borne  in  the  same  amount,  in  proportion  to 
wealth  or  other  condition,  by  every  man  who  shares  with  him 
the  benefits  of  a  common  political  system.  That  confidence 
it  was  the  fortune  of  the  Revolution  to  inspire  for  the  first 
time  in  the  mind  of  the  citizen  of  France. 

The  second  great  achievement  of  the  Revolution  on  the 
political  side  was  the  overthrow  of  absolute  monarchy;  and 
although,  as  will  appear,  the  Napoleonic  era  witnessed  a  vir- 
tual  reestablishment   of  autocracy,  the   reversion  was  but 


THE   REVOLUTION   IN  FRANCE  45 

temporary,  and  eventually  France  was  destined  not  only  to 
dispense  completely  with  absolutism,  but  to  go  over  definitely, 
after  many  vicissitudes,  to  the  side  of  republicanism.  From 
1789  to  1 791  the  ruling  power  in  the  state  was  the  extra-legal 
National  Assembly,  through  whose  instrumentality  largely, 
as  has  been  emphasized,  the  real  revolution  was  wrought. 
From  September  3,  1791,  to  August  10,  1792,  there  was  in 
operation  a  constitution  under  which  the  crown  was  shorn  of 
most  of  its  powers  and  the  management  of  public  affairs  was 
committed  essentially  to  a  one-house  Corps  Legislatif,  or 
legislative  body,  elected  indirectly  by  the  taxpayers  of  the 
country.  September  21,  1792,  the  Convention,  whose  elec- 
tion had  been  ordered  by  the  expiring  legislative  body,  de- 
creed the  abolition  of  monarchy  and  the  establishment  of  a 
republic.  A  republican  constitution  drawn  up  in  1793  was 
never  put  in  operation,  but  another  —  the  so-called  Consti- 
tution of  the  Year  III  —  was  promulgated  September  23, 
1795,  and  it  was  continued  in  effect  somewhat  more  than  four 
years.  Under  it  the  executive  power  was  vested  in  a  Direc- 
tory of  five  members  and  the  legislative  in  two  popularly 
elected  chambers,  the  Council  of  Elders  and  the  Council  of 
Five  Hundred.  Napoleon's  coup  d'etat  of  18  Brumaire  of 
the  Year  VIII  (November  9,  1799)  terminated  this  regime, 
and  almost  at  once  there  was  put  in  operation  the  so-called 
Constitution  of  the  Year  VIII,  under  which  the  Corsican 
governed  France  until  his  abdication  in  18 14.  With  the  ele- 
vation of  Napoleon  to  the  supreme  direction  of  French  affairs 
the  revolutionizing  of  France  entered  upon  a  new  phase  and 
that  of  adjacent  countries  was  begun. 


CHAPTER  V 

NAPOLEON  AND  THE   NEW  REGIME 

At  an  early  stage  of  the  Revolution  Edmund  Burke  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  if  the  republican  experiment  in 
France  should  fail,  it  would  be  followed  by  the  rise  of  the  most 
completely  arbitrary  power  that  had  ever  appeared  on  earth. 
In  the  career  of  Napoleon  the  prophecy  reached  substan- 
tial fulfilment.  From  absolute  monarchy  France  passed,  in 
1789-91,  to  constitutional  monarchy;  from  constitutional 
monarchy,  in  1792,  to  republicanism ;  from  republicanism, 
in  1799,  to  veiled  monarchy;  and  from  veiled  monarchy,  in 
1804,  to  monarchy  avowed  and  once  more  essentially  absolute. 
From  18  Brumaire  (November  9,  1799),  when  the  Directory 
was  overthrown  and  the  executive  powers  of  the  state  were 
vested  in  the  three  consuls,  Bonaparte,  Ducos,  and  Sieyes, 
until  the  assumption  of  the  Imperial  title  in  May,  1804, 
Napoleon  was  actually,  though  not  nominally,  the  sovereign 
of  France ;  from  the  establishment  of  the  Empire  until  the 
first  abdication,  in  April,  1814,  he  was  the  arbiter  of  French 
destinies  in  both  fact  and  form.  The  coins  of  the  tradesman 
continued  until  1808  to  carry  the  legend  of  the  republic. 
Aside  from  this,  however,  there  was,  after  1799,  little  or 
nothing  which  might  bear  witness  officially  to  the  fact  that 
the  republic  had  ever  been. 

With  the  establishment  of  the  Consulate,  and  still  more 
with  that  of  the  Empire,  the  era  of  French  revolutionary 
idealism  was  left  behind  and  that  of  practical,  constructive, 
militant  statesmanship  was  inaugurated.  "We  have  done 
with  the  romance  of  the  Revolution,"  declared  the  First 
Consul  to  his  Council  of  State  at  one  of  its  earlier  sessions. 

46 


NAPOLEON  AND  THE  NEW  REGIME       47 

"We  must  have  eyes  only  for  what  is  real  and  practicable 
in  the  application  of  principles,  and  not  for  the  speculative 
and  hypothetical."  Napoleon  had  passed  through  the  Revo- 
lution without  entertaining  a  shred  of  sympathy  with  its 
ultimate  ideal.  The  thing  of  principal  value  which  he  saw 
in  it  was  the  opening  which  by  it  was  created  for  men  of  talents 
such  as  himself  —  the  carrier e  ouverte  aux  talents  which  he 
conceived  to  be  the  basal  principle  of  all  properly  constituted 
society.  In  the  "idle  vaporings"  of  philosophy  he  saw  small 
value.  He  called  Rousseau  a  madman  and  was  quit  of  him. 
The  rallying  cry  of  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity  made  no 
appeal  to  him,  for  he  did  not  believe  human  society  capable 
of  being  constructed  upon  these  principles,  and  he  had  no 
hesitation  in  avowing  the  opinion  that  the  French  in  reality 
loved  neither  liberty  nor  equality.  During  a  decade  the 
idealists  had  occupied  the  seats  of  authority.  If  their  assump- 
tions were  warranted,  Napoleon  was  wont  to  reason,  the  fruits 
of  ten  years  of  power  ought  to  be  expected  to  demonstrate 
the  fact.  The  France,  however,  whose  government  fell  to 
the  First  Consul  in  1799  was  disorganized,  disheartened,  and 
seemingly  helpless.  The  first  enthusiasm  of  innovation  had 
worn  off,  and  what  the  ultimate  state  of  the  nation  would  be 
nobody  could  so  much  as  predict.  One  thing  was  clear, 
namely,  that  for  stability  and  reassurance  there  was  a  yearning 
which  was  both  real  and  deep.  By  no  one  was  this  aspect 
of  the  national  temper  better  understood  than  by  Napoleon, 
and  it  was  a  matter  of  no  great  difficulty  for  him  to  turn  it 
directly  to  account.  For  the  sake  of  France,  so  ran  his  logic, 
the  theorizers  and  experimenters  must  at  last  be  made  to  give 
place  to  the  administrators  and  the  builders;  and  that  he 
was  himself  the  agency  through  which  the  need  of  the  nation 
at  this  point  was  to  be  met  he  cherished  never  a  doubt.  "I 
swear,"  he  avowed  upon  one  occasion,  "that  I  do  nothing 
except  for  France ;  I  have  nothing  in  view  but  her  advantage." 
It  was  not  theories  of  government,  as  he  saw  it,  that  France 


48     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  stood  in  need  of, 
but  simply  government. 

There  was,  of  course,  on  the  part  of  Napoleon,  no  tinge  of 
regret  that  the  Revolution  had  occurred,  or  that  it  had  taken 
the  course  that  has  been  described.  By  the  overturn  the 
way  had  been  prepared  for  his  own  ascendancy,  first,  by 
sweeping  the  field  clear  for  the  establishment  of  a  new  mon- 
archy, and,  second,  by  introducing  modifications  in  the  social 
order  of  which  he  fully  approved  but  for  which  he  was  willing 
enough  not  to  be  obliged  to  shoulder  responsibility.  Much 
less  did  he  contemplate  a  restoration  —  save  at  one  point 
only,  i.e.,  the  revival  of  strong  monarchy  —  of  the  ancien 
regime.  The  basis  upon  which  he  proposed  to  build  was  not 
the  institutions  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  the  new  order 
of  things  established  by  his  despised  " philosophers."  No 
one  understood  better  than  he  that  a  nation  cannot  perma- 
nently be  strong  unless  its  citizens  are  contented  and  their 
industries  are  productive ;  and  this,  he  was  well  aware,  means 
equality  before  the  law  and  equality  of  economic  opportunity. 
The  equality  in  which  Napoleon  believed  bore  no  relation  to 
the  philosophic  query  as  to  whether  men  are  born  free  and 
equal.  It  meant  simply  that  political  and  economic  distinc- 
tions of  class  should  not  be  permitted,  and  that  there  should 
be  a  free  and  general  competition  among  citizens  of  all  ranks 
for  offices,  honors,  wealth,  and  success.  There  would  still 
be  rich  and  poor,  learned  and  ignorant,  industrious  and  shift- 
less, good  and  bad.  But  these  inevitable  differences  should 
not  be  allowed  to  work  any  cleavage  in  the  essential  solidarity 
of  the  state.  Public  burdens  should  fall  upon  all,  public 
rewards  be  open  to  all,  public  protection  be  guaranteed  to  all. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  most  of  the  positive  achievements 
of  the  Revolution  in  France  —  a  secular  state  based  upon 
a  large  peasant  proprietary,  a  civil  law  emancipated  from 
ecclesiastical  influences,  a  system  of  land-tenure  devised  to 
secure  the  maximum  of  equality,  a  law  of  persons  which  pro- 


NAPOLEON  AND  THE  NEW  REGIME       49 

claimed  that  all  men  have  equal  rights  —  were  faithfully 
conserved  throughout  the  Napoleonic  domination  and  were 
wrought  still  more  deeply  into  the  new  social  and  industrial 
economy  of  the  nation.  No  vestige  of  serfdom  was  permitted 
to  be  restored;  the  nobility  and  the  clergy  were  allowed  to 
regain  no  part  of  their  ancient  privileges;  the  new  land- 
settlement  was  carefully  secured;  against  the  tradition  of 
ancient  "customs"  and  "ordinances"  public  trial,  the  jury, 
and  the  new  justices  of  the  peace  were  rigidly  maintained; 
the  restrictions  which  prior  to  1789  had  operated  to  keep  men 
perpetually  in  a  given  status  were  in  no  case  allowed  to  be 
revived.  And  at  a  number  of  points  —  especially,  as  will 
be  explained,  in  relation  to  taxation,  law,  education,  and  the 
Church  —  the  work  of  reform  was  carried  far  beyond  the 
stage  which  it  had  attained  during  the  revolutionary  period. 
There  is,  of  course,  this  thing  to  be  observed:  the  Napo- 
leonic system,  while  resting  ostensibly  upon  the  popular  will 
as  expressed  through  successive  plebiscites,  was  essentially 
autocratic.  To  one  of  his  councillors  the  First  Consul  de- 
clared in  1800  that  it  was  his  policy  to  govern  men  as  the 
majority  wished  to  be  governed;  that  "if  he  governed  a 
people  of  Jews,  he  would  rebuild  the  temple  of  Solomon  ! " 
But  it  was  a  firm  conviction  with  him  that  the  French  people 
of  his  day  cared  much  less  that  they  be  permitted  to  take  part 
in  their  own  government  than  that  justice  and  fairness  be 
maintained  in  the  social  order;  and  there  is  ample  evidence 
that  in  this  conclusion  he  was  substantially  correct.  Despite 
the  fine-sounding  phrases  of  the  Revolutionary  declarations 
of  rights,  the  framers  of  even  the  constitutions  of  1791  and 
1795  shrank  from  the  establishment  of  suffrage  systems  which 
went  the  full  length  of  democracy;  and  after  Napoleon's 
own  public  career  was  terminated  the  French  people  accepted 
almost  without  a  murmur  a  franchise  arrangement  which 
was  among  the  most  illiberal  in  history.  In  the  Empire  there 
was  elaborate  popular  electoral  machinery,  and  four  great 


50     SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

consultative  and  deliberative  assemblies  lent  the  govern- 
mental system  the  appearance  of  possessing  a  broad,  and  even 
democratic,  basis.  In  point  of  fact,  however,  the  central 
government  was  conducted  upon  lines  that  were  no  less  auto- 
cratic (though  considerably  less  irresponsible)  than  those 
customarily  followed  in  Bourbon  days,  and  the  centralized 
control  of  local  governmental  affairs  was  carried  much  be- 
yond anything  that  the  Old  Regime  had  witnessed.  Weary  of 
the  local  elective  bodies  of  Revolutionary  origin,  which  seemed 
to  do  little  but  squander  the  peoples'  taxes,  France  acquiesced 
without  much  protest  in  the  drawing  of  all  governmental 
powers  into  the  hands  of  the  First  Consul  and  his  agents ;  and 
it  is  at  this  point  that  there  was  inaugurated  definitely  that 
symmetrical  and  highly  centralized  governmental  order 
which,  combined  ingeniously  with  a  revived  democracy,  is 
so  conspicuous  a  feature  of  the  France  of  our  own  day. 

The  peculiar  position  which  Napoleon  occupied  and  the 
increasing  difficulties  of  this  position  in  the  later  years  of 
the  Empire  led  inevitably  to  the  adoption  of  policies  which 
were  not  only  autocratic  but  harsh  and  tyrannical.  One 
illustration  only  which  can  be  mentioned  is  the  extinction 
of  the  freedom  of  the  press.  Almost  immediately  upon  his 
accession  to  power  Napoleon  suppressed  a  considerable 
number  of  political  newspapers  and  prohibited  the  establish- 
ment of  new  ones.  As  Emperor  his  policy  in  this  regard 
tended  to  become  more  rather  than  less  illiberal.  Such 
journals  as  were  allowed  to  continue  publication  were  ordered 
to  suppress  all  news  or  other  matter  which  might  be  disad- 
vantageous or  disagreeable  to  France.  "If  I  were  to  re- 
establish the  liberty  of  the  press,"  he  declared  to  those  who 
besought  him  to  inaugurate  a  milder  policy,  "  I  should  im- 
mediately have  thirty  Royalist  journals  and  as  many  Jacobin, 
and  I  should  have  to  govern  with  a  minority."  In  1810  the 
number  of  newspapers  outside  Paris  was  limited  to  one  in 
each  department,  and  each  journal  was  placed  under  the 


NAPOLEON  AND  THE  NEW  REGIME       51 

control  of  the  centrally  appointed  departmental  prefect 
After  October,  1810,  there  were  but  four  newspapers  left  in 
the  capital,  and  by  a  decree  of  September  17,  181 1,  the  three 
of  these  which  at  that  time  survived  were  confiscated,  where- 
upon the  press  became  for  all  practical  purposes  extinct.  The 
censorship  was  extended  to  books,  plays,  and  pamphlets,  and 
every  publication  adjudged  to  be  "contrary  to  the  duties 
of  subjects  toward  the  Sovereign  and  the  security  of  the 
State"  were  promptly  suppressed. 

In  a  number  of  very  important  respects,  however,  the  re- 
forms of  the  Revolution  were  carried  —  albeit  by  autocratic 
methods  —  toward  fuller  realization.  In  the  first  place,  the 
burden  of  taxation,  already  alleviated  by  the  fresh  distribu- 
tion which  had  followed  the  abolition  of  privilege,  was  mate- 
rially reduced.  It  is  estimated  that  whereas  the  ordinary 
peasant  prior  to  the  Revolution  paid  as  high  as  81  per  cent 
of  his  income  in  the  form  of  taxes  and  manorial  dues,  in  the  era 
of  Napoleon  he  paid  but  21  per  cent;  and  there  was  the  fur- 
ther advantage  that  now  the  imposts  were  gathered  by  methods 
which  imposed  upon  the  payer  a  minimum  of  embarrassment 
and  hardship.  In  the  second  place,  the  great  body  of  the 
French  law  was  reduced  to  comprehensive  and  uniform  codes 
and  published  for  the  general  information  and  use  of  the 
nation.  The  work  of  codification  had  been  begun  by  the 
Revolutionary  assemblies,  but  under  the  direction  of  Napoleon 
it  was  carried  through  with  such  effectiveness  that  all  of  the 
greater  codes  which  date  from  the  period  —  the  Code  Napo- 
leon of  1804-07  (since  1870  the  Code  Civil),  the  Code  of  Com- 
merce of  1807,  the  Code  of  Criminal  Instruction  of  1808,  and 
the  Penal  Code  of  18 10  —  continue  at  the  present  time  in 
operation.  The  task  of  codification  was  enormous,  for  the 
ancient  French  law  had  been  an  inextricable  labyrinth  of 
customs,  statutes,  rights,  and  privileges,  varying  from  dis* 
trict  to  district ;  and  by  the  mass  of  decrees  emanating  from 
the  various  national  assemblies  after  1789  confusion  had  but 


52 


SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 


been  made  twice  confounded.  So  admirably,  however,  were 
the  difficulties  overcome  that  the  law  codes  became  not 
merely  the  most  durable  product  of  Napoleonic  statesman- 
ship but  the  bases,  with  appropriate  modifications,  of  the 
legal  systems  of  Italy,  Holland,  Belgium,  Bavaria,  Baden, 
Rhenish  Prussia,  and  even  the  state  of  Louisiana.  The  re- 
forms of  the  Revolution  whereby  was  abolished  the  employ- 
ment of  torture  and  of  other  inquisitorial  practices  in  the 
criminal  courts  were  extended,  and  jury  trial,  established  first 
in  France  in  1789,  was  retained  in  virtually  all  criminal  cases, 
although  jurors  were  required  to  be  selected  only  from  edu- 
cated and  competent  citizens,  and  the  system  could  at  any 
time  be  suspended  by  decree  of  the  Senate. 

A  third  phase  of  Napoleon's  constructive  work  was  his 
encouragement  of  public  education.  By  the  Convention,  in 
1792-95,  there  had  been  projected  an  ambitious  scheme  for 
the  establishment  of  primary,  secondary,  and  advanced 
schools,  but  war  and  lack  of  funds  had  prevented  the  carrying 
of  any  considerable  portion  of  the  plan  into  effect.  In  1799 
there  were  but  twenty-four  elementary  schools  in  Paris, 
with  an  aggregate  attendance  of  fewer  than  1000  pupils,  and 
throughout  the  provinces  conditions  were  proportionally 
worse.  Napoleon  believed  firmly  in  the  value  of  popular 
education  and  welcomed  the  change  by  which  the  adminis- 
tration of  public  instruction,  like  that  of  public  charity,  had 
been  transferred  from  the  ecclesiastical  to  the  secular  authori- 
ties. The  two  great  educational  measures  of  Napoleon's 
government  were  (1)  the  law  of  May  1,  1802,  regulating  the 
organization  and  functions  of  the  ordinary  primary  and 
secondary  schools,  of  the  lycees,  and  of  the  ecoles  speciales, 
and  (2)  the  institution,  March  17,  1808,  of  the  University  of 
France,  which  was  not  a  local  seat  of  learning  of  the  familiar 
type,  but  represented  rather  the  sum  total  of  all  the  public 
teaching  bodies  of  the  Empire  absorbed  in  and  controlled 
by  one  vast  instructional  corporation.     Both  the  mechanism 


NAPOLEON  AND  THE  NEW  REGIME       53 

of  education  and  the  numbers  of  pupils  under  instruction 
were  greatly  increased.  As  to  the  proper  nature  and  end  of 
public  instruction,  however,  Napoleon  had  very  definite 
ideas,  and  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  application  of  those 
ideas  operated  to  stimulate,  or  even  to  allow,  the  unfolding 
of  the  mental  and  moral  faculties  of  the  individual.  "In 
the  establishment  of  a  teaching  body,"  he  declared  in  1805, 
"my  principal  aim  is  to  procure  a  means  of  directing  political 
and  moral  opinions ;  for  so  long  as  people  are  not  taught  from 
their  childhood  whether  they  are  to  be  republicans  or  mon- 
archists, Catholics  or  freethinkers,  the  state  will  not  form  a 
nation;  it  will  rest  on  vague  and  uncertain  bases,  and  will 
be  subject  constantly  to  change  and  disorder."  In  1808  it 
was  enjoined  that  all  the  schools  of  the  University  should 
"  take  as  the  basis  of  their  instruction  fidelity  to  the  Emperor, 
to  the  Imperial  monarchy,  the  guardian  of  the  happiness  of 
the  nation,  and  to  the  Napoleonic  dynasty,  the  preserver  of 
the  unity  of  France  and  of  all  the  liberal  ideas  proclaimed  by 
the  constitutions."  The  aim  of  this  education  was  not  to 
awaken  ideas  or  to  develop  mental  capacity,  but  to  produce 
self-supporting  subjects,  obedient  citizens,  and  loyal  soldiers. 
The  studies  upon  which  emphasis  was  placed  were  those  of 
a  utilitarian  and  non-speculative  character;  discipline  and 
public  spirit  were  given  precedence  over  culture;  lessons 
began  and  ended  regularly  with  the  roll  of  drums.  None 
the  less,  the  contribution  of  the  Napoleonic  regime  to  the 
development  of  the  educational  facilities  of  France  was  very 
great.  On  the  side  of  machinery,  if  not  on  that  of  educational 
content,  much  of  the  Napoleonic  system  has  survived  to  our 
own  day.  The  University  of  France,  altered  but  yet  recog- 
nizable, still  exists. 

Finally,  it  was  under  Napoleon  that  there  was  put  in  effect 
a  body  of  regulations  governing  the  relation  of  church  and 
state  which  was  subverted  only  in  the  course  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical overturn  in  France  in   1901-06.     Following  Hebert's 


54  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

attempt  to  substitute  for  Christianity  the  worship  of  Reason, 
and  that  of  Robespierre  to  establish  a  new  deistic  worship  of 
the  Supreme  Being,  the  Convention,  by  a  decree  of  February 
21,  1795,  had  pronounced  an  absolute  separation  of  church 
and  state.  The  government  was  no  more  to  concern  itself 
with  religious  matters,  whether  to  support  churches  or  to 
control  beliefs.  Under  the  Directory,  however,  oaths  of 
loyalty  to  the  republic  were  required  of  the  clergy,  and  reli- 
gious persecution  was  far  from  uncommon.  In  1799  Napo- 
leon found  the  French  Church  in  chaos  and  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal difficulties  among  the  most  serious  which  had  to  be  faced. 
Napoleon  was  himself  a  deist,  but  he  well  understood  the 
conserving  influence  of  Catholic  Christianity,  and  from  the 
outset  he  made  it  a  part  of  his  policy  to  win  the  support  of 
the  clergy  and  of  the  papacy.  Church  officials  who  had  been 
banished  were  recalled,  others  who  had  been  imprisoned  were 
released,  the  observance  of  Sunday  was  restored,  and,  finally, 
in  September,  1801,  there  was  concluded  with  the  pope  a 
formal  treaty,  the  Concordat,  in  which  the  precise  status  of 
the  Church  in  France  was  carefully  denned.  The  terms  of 
the  Concordat  were  distinctly  the  product  of  compromise. 
The  demand  of  the  papacy  for  the  reestablishment  of  the 
tithe,  the  restoration  to  the  clergy  of  the  lands  of  which  they 
had  been  deprived  since  1789,  and  the  retention  by  the  clergy 
of  the  offices  at  present  possessed  was  flatly  refused.  But 
Roman  Catholicism  was  declared  to  be,  if  not  the  "state 
religion,"  at  least  the  religion  of  the  great  majority  of  French 
people ;  and  it  was  stipulated  that  the  pope  and  the  govern- 
ment should  redivide  France  into  bishoprics ;  that  the  bishop 
should  be  appointed  by  the  head  of  the  state  and  confirmed 
by  the  pope,  and  the  priests  should  be  placed  in  charge  of  the 
various  parishes  by  the  bishops;  that  bishops  and  priests 
should  take  oath  to  support  the  government;  that,  in 
lieu  of  tithes  and  lands,  the  clergy  should  be  supported  by 
subsidies  accorded  by  the  state;  and  that  no  papal  bull  or 


NAPOLEON  AND  THE  NEW  REGIME       55 

decree  might  be  published  in  France  without  the  govern- 
ment's permission.  The  relation  between  the  Church  and 
the  state  was  thus  made  very  close  —  closer  than  modern 
Frenchmen  have  been  willing  to  allow  it  to  continue.  But 
from  the  arrangement  both  church  and  state,  through  a  con- 
siderable period,  profited  enormously,  and  to  Napoleon  must 
at  least  be  allowed  credit  for  bringing  to  an  end  one  of  the 
most  distressing  chapters  in  French  ecclesiastical  history. 

The  ultimate  importance  of  the  Revolutionary  and  Napo- 
leonic era  arises  scarcely  less  from  the  changes  which  that 
eventful  epoch  brought  beyond  the  French  borders  than  from 
the  reconstruction  which  it  witnessed  in  the  society  of  France 
itself.  Aside  from  the  arousing  of  discussion  and  the  starting 
of  fresh  trains  of  thought,  the  Revolution  proper  during  its 
years  of  progress  in  France  (1789-94)  can  hardly  be  said 
to  have  been  carried  over  into  any  non-French  portion  of 
Europe,  save  to  some  extent  into  the  Austrian  Netherlands. 
For  the  time  the  efforts  of  the  enthusiasts  at  Paris  to  insti- 
gate the  peoples  of  Spain,  of  Italy,  of  Austria,  and  of  Prussia 
to  overturn  their  absolutist  governments  and  to  set  up  a 
new  order  of  freedom  and  equality  were  futile.  In  England  a 
movement  in  behalf  of  governmental  liberalization,  which 
was  already  under  way  in  1789,  was  first  stimulated,  but  later 
checked,  by  the  events  which  took  place  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  Channel.  In  Germany  the  French  uprising  was  hailed 
with  delight  by  many  of  the  leading  minds  of  the  day  —  by 
von  Humboldt,  by  Klopstock,  by  Herder,  by  Richter,  by 
Hegel,  by  Kant,  by  Fichte,  though  not  by  Goethe,  Schiller, 
or  the  publicist  von  Gentz.  But  only  in  the  Rhenish  dis- 
tricts did  it  inspire  popular  agitation  or  produce  results  in  any- 
wise tangible.  In  the  dominions  of  the  Hapsburgs  there  was 
some  unrest,  but  no  uprising.  The  early  stages  of  the  French 
movement  were  welcomed  by  the  more  enlightened  men  of 
Italy,  but  not  until  after  the  invasion  of  1796-97  did  the 
liberal  spirit  lay  hold  upon  any  considerable  portion  of  the 


56  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

masses  of  the  Italian  people.     In  Spain  and  Portugal  the  num- 
ber influenced  by  French  ideas  was  insignificant. 

Prior  to  Napoleon's  accession  to  power  in  1799,  however, 
three  portions  of  Europe  outside  of  France  had  undergone, 
at  the  hands  of  French  conquerors,  distinctly  important 
change.  The  provinces  comprising  the  Austrian  Netherlands 
(the  Belgium  of  later  days)  were  overrun  by  a  French  army 
as  early  as  1793,  and  by  decree  of  October  1,  1795,  they 
were  incorporated  in  the  French  Republic.  During  the  winter 
of  1794-95  Holland  was  similarly  overrun,  although  annexa- 
tion to  France  was  postponed  until  1806,  and  during  the  inter- 
vening decade  the  Dutch  provinces  were  organized  as  the 
Batavian  Republic.  In  both  Belgium  and  Holland  French 
dominance  meant  the  assimilation  of  social  and  political 
institutions  to  those  which  represented  the  product  of  the 
Revolution  in  France.  In  1798  the  Directory  took  it  upon 
itself  to  revolutionize  Switzerland,  in  the  majority  of  whose 
thirteen  cantons  large  elements  of  medievalism  yet  survived. 
The  loosely  organized  confederation  was  converted  into  a 
centralized  republic,  tributary  to  France,  under  a  constitu- 
tion which  was  virtually  a  reproduction  of  the  French  in- 
strument of  1795.  Privileges  were  abolished,  feudal  burdens 
were  swept  away,  and,  although  the  intervention,  and  still 
more  the  subsequent  policy  of  the  French,  was  without 
justification,  there  resulted  a  certain  liberalizing  of  institu- 
tions which  proved  permanent. 

The  changes  wrought  throughout  western  Europe  during 
the  years  of  Napoleon's  dominance  were  of  fundamental 
importance.  In  part  they  related  to  the  international  situa- 
tion, in  part  to  the  framework  and  policies  of  governments, 
and  in  part  to  the  social  and  economic  condition  of  various 
peoples.  Many  of  the  innovations  which  were  made  did  not 
achieve  permanence,  but  others  proved  not  only  lasting  but 
of  the  utmost  consequence  in  the  shaping  of  the  Europe  of 
the  present  day.     Outside  of  France,  no  portion  of  Europe 


NAPOLEON  AND  THE  NEW  REGIME       57 

was  more  profoundly  affected  by  the  developments  of  the 
Napoleonic  period  than  was  Germany.  The  transformations 
wrought  to  the  east  of  the  Rhine  between  1801  and  18 14  were 
threefold.  In  the  first  place,  after  more  than  a  thousand 
years  of  existence,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  was,  in  1806, 
brought  to  an  end  and  Germany  was  left  —  until  the  forma- 
tion of  the  German  Confederation  of  18 15  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Congress  of  Vienna  —  without  even  the  semblance  of 
national  unity.  In  the  second  place,  there  was  within  the 
period  a  thoroughgoing  readjustment  of  the  political  struc- 
ture of  the  German  world,  the  outcome  of  which  was  the 
reduction  of  the  number  of  German  states  from  above  three 
hundred  to  thirty-eight.  Finally,  in  several  of  the  states 
the  overturn  occasioned  by  the  Napoleonic  domination 
prompted  heroic  attempts  at  reform,  with  the  consequence 
of  a  revolutionizing  modernization  of  social  and  economic 
conditions  comparable  with  that  which  within  the  genera- 
tion had  been  effected  in  France. 

The  most  notable  transformation  was  that  which  took 
place  in  the  kingdom  of  Prussia.  During  the  eighteenth 
century  Prussia  had  been  made,  by  the  thrifty  policies  of 
Frederick  William  I.  and  by  the  wars  and  statecraft  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  one  of  the  principal  powers  of  Europe. 
Not  only,  however,  was  the  governmental  system  of  the 
kingdom  an  autocracy;  the  state  of  society  was  antiquated 
and  that  of  industry  hopelessly  illiberal.  Serfdom  was  so 
widely  prevalent  that  upwards  of  two-thirds  of  the  popula- 
tion was  to  some  extent  unfree.  The  law  recognized  three 
classes  of  men  —  peasants,  citizens,  and  nobles  —  and  made 
it  substantially  impossible  for  an  individual  to  pass  from  one 
class  into  another.  The  system  of  land  tenure  was  regulated 
rigidly  with  reference  to  this  social  hierarchy,  and  the  transfer 
of  land  from  members  of  one  class  to  those  of  another  could 
be  legalized  only  by  special  dispensation  of  the  crown.  The 
noble  was  forbidden  to  take  up  an  occupation  recognized  by 


58  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

law  to  be  vested  in  the  citizen  class,  and  the  citizen 
might  not  perform  any  work  performed  ordinarily  by  the 
peasantry.  Social  status,  landholding,  occupations,  were 
held  fast  in  a  mesh  of  feudal  law  and  custom. 

The  dominion  of  Napoleon  in  southern  and  western  Ger- 
many was  borne  apathetically  through  a  number  of  years, 
but  the  insolent  conduct  of  the  conqueror  served  gradually 
to  arouse  that  patriotic  feeling  which  eventually  was  to  make 
possible  the  expulsion  of  the  foreigner  from  German  soil  and 
the  building  of  a  united  German  nation.  By  the  defeat 
near  Jena  (October  14,  1806),  and  by  the  treaty  of  Tilsit 
(June  25,  1807),  in  which  the  Tsar  consented  to  the  dismem- 
berment of  Prussia,  the  Prussian  nation  was  plunged  in  the 
depths  of  humiliation.  Out  of  despair,  however,  arose  hope 
and  a  determination  to  redeem  the  kingdom  from  its  disas- 
ters by  an  overhauling  of  its  social  and  economic  condition. 
The  first  step  was  taken,  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
Stein,  by  the  issue  of  the  memorable  Edict  of  Emancipation 
of  October  9,  1807. l  The  object  of  this  measure  was  declared 
to  be  the  removal  of  every  obstacle  that  hitherto  had  pre- 
vented the  individual  from  attaining  such  a  measure  of  pros- 
perity as  he  was  capable  of  realizing.  The  principal  changes 
introduced  may  be  summarized  as  follows:  (1)  new  relations 
of  serfdom  might  no  longer  be  entered  into,  and  on  and  after 
October  8,  18 10,  serfdom  throughout  all  portions  of  the  realm 
was  entirely  abolished;  (2)  all  restrictions  upon  landhold- 
ing and  upon  the  buying,  leasing,  and  selling  of  land  were 
rescinded;  (3)  to  nobles  it  was  permitted  to  engage  in  citi- 
zen occupations,  and  to  citizens  to  perform  peasant  labor ;  and 
(4)  the  caste  system  was  so  far  abolished  that  peasants  were 
to  be  permitted  to  rise  to  the  citizen,  or  even  to  the  noble, 

1  It  should  be  noted  that  while  Stein  bore  official  responsibility  for  the  meas- 
ure, the  substance  of  the  reforms  proposed  had  been  agreed  upon  by  the  king, 
Frederick  William,  and  his  enlightened  advisers  before  Stein's  accession  to 
office  (October  4,  1807). 


NAPOLEON  AND  THE  NEW  REGIME       59 

class.  By  a  drastic  decree  of  September  14,  181 1,  carried 
by  Stein's  successor,  Hardenberg,  but  initiated  by  the  king, 
farmers  and  peasants  on  feudal  lands  were  given  complete 
possession  of  their  farms  or  holdings  on  condition  only  that 
the  lord  should  receive  one-third  of  the  land  in  lieu  of  his 
former  agrarian  rights  and  claims  to  personal  service. 
Thus  was  accomplished  in  Prussia  at  the  instigation,  not 
of  a  rebellious  peasantry,  but  of  the  authorities  of  state, 
that  same  general  transition  from  dependent  tenure  to  free- 
hold which  in  France  had  comprised  one  of  the  principal 
practical  consequences  of  the  Revolution. 

The  radical  changes  introduced  by  these  measures,  to- 
gether with  the  rapidly  reviving  spirit  of  the  nation,  prompted 
important  reforms  in  other  directions.  Beginning  even  be- 
fore the  appointment  in  1809  of  Wilhelm  von  Humboldt  to 
the  Ministry  of  Public  Instruction,  the  educational  system 
of  the  kingdom  was  regenerated  and  extended  and  a  new 
spirit  of  thoroughness  of  work  was  inculcated.  The  found- 
ing, in  1810,  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  and,  in  181 1,  of  that 
of  Breslau,  were  but  phases  of  the  reforms  which  in  this 
period  were  undertaken  in  behalf  of  public  intelligence  and 
training.  Closely  paralleling  the  legislation  by  which  the 
social,  economic,  and  educational  life  of  the  kingdom  was 
regenerated  was  that  whereby  there  was  called  into  exist- 
ence a  military  system  destined  profoundly  to  influence  the 
fortunes  not  alone  of  Prussia  but  of  other  European  states. 
The  reform  of  the  army,  the  essence  of  which  was  the  trans- 
formation of  a  body  of  spiritless  soldiery  kept  in  order  by 
fear  into  "a  union  of  all  the  moral  and  physical  energies  of 
the  nation,"  was  instigated  by  the  king  and  executed  by  a 
commission  presided  over  by  Scharnhorst.  Finally,  the 
period  was  in  Prussia  one  of  distinct  advance  in  respect  to 
local  self-government.  Prior  to  the  nineteenth  century  there 
had  been  a  tendency  to  draw  the  control  of  local  affairs  ever 
more  closely  into  the  hands  of  the  central  authorities,  with 


60     SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  consequence  that  the  vigorous  civic  life  which  once  had 
characterized  the  German  free  cities  became  almost  extinct. 
Under  the  influence  of  Stein  there  was  promulgated,  Novem- 
ber 19,  1808,  an  elaborate  decree  whereby,  while  the  state  was 
yet  to  maintain  a  general  supervision  of  municipal  affairs, 
large  powers  were  intrusted  to  the  burghers  and  the  rights  of 
lords  of  manors  over  towns  and  over  villages  of  more  than 
eight  hundred  inhabitants  were  terminated.  By  this  decree 
was  laid  the  foundation  of  modern  local  self-government  in 
Prussia,  and  although  Stein  was  unable  to  carry  into  execu- 
tion his  plan  to  extend  to  the  country  districts  the  principles 
which  had  been  applied  to  the  towns,  the  importance  of  what 
was  done  can  hardly  be  exaggerated. 

In  Prussia  the  liberalizing  changes  that  have  been  men- 
tioned were  introduced,  of  course,  not  by  Napoleon,  but  by 
the  Prussian  authorities;  although  but  for  the  defeats 
visited  upon  the  Prussians  by  Napoleon,  and  but  for  the 
conqueror's  clearly  understood  purpose  to  compass  the  utter 
ruin  of  the  kingdom,  much  of  what  was  done  could  not  have 
been  done.  In  numerous  other  portions  of  Europe,  however, 
important  transformations  were  accomplished  immediately 
under  Napoleon's  guiding  hand.  This  was  true  in  the  Ger- 
man territories  erected  into  the  kingdom  of  Westphalia  and 
the  Grand  Duchy  of  Warsaw,  in  Italy,  in  Spain,  in  Switzer- 
land, and  in  Holland.  On  the  side  of  political  arrangements 
these  transformations  were,  in  most  instances,  not  enduring. 
Accomplished  by  force,  they  came  to  an  end  with  the  down- 
fall of  their  author.  On  the  side  of  legal,  social,  and  economic 
affairs,  however,  the  changes  wrought  were  in  several  coun- 
tries in  an  appreciable  degree  permanent.  Especially  were 
they  so  in  the  Low  Countries,  in  southern  Germany,  and  in 
Switzerland.  These  changes  consisted,  broadly,  in  the  ex- 
tension of  institutions  and  of  principles  which  were  prevalent 
at  the  day  in  France :  the  law  codes,  jury  trial,  civil  equality, 
state  control  of   the  clergy,  practical  education,  centraliza- 


NAPOLEON  AND  THE  NEW  REGIME  6 1 

tion  of  governing  agencies,  and  liberal  provision  for  public 
works.  When,  near  the  close  of  1808,  he  invaded  Spain  and 
occupied  Madrid,  Napoleon  issued  a  decree  by  which  all 
feudal  rights  and  manorial  obligations  were  swept  away,  the 
tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  was  abolished,  the  number  of 
monasteries  and  convents  was  reduced  by  two-thirds,  renun- 
ciation of  monastic  vows  was  authorized,  and  the  interior 
customs  lines  by  which  the  freedom  of  trade  had  been  ham- 
pered were  suppressed.  This  is  but  an  illustration  of  the  kind 
of  thing  that  the  spread  of  the  Napoleonic  dominion  involved. 
Neither  in  Spain  nor  elsewhere  were  all  the  projects  of  reform 
which  were  undertaken  carried  to  completion,  but  even  where 
specific  changes  fell  short,  or  were  undone,  the  experience 
which  men  derived  from  the  efforts  that  were  made  proved 
often  of  the  greatest  value.  No  country  that  had  been 
touched  by  French  influence  became  ever  again  quite  what 
it  had  been  before. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  TRANSFORMATION   OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE 

During  the  later  eighteenth  century  and  the  earlier  nine- 
teenth England  underwent  a  social  and  economic  readjust- 
ment which  in  importance  is  easily  comparable  with  that 
which  took  place  during  the  same  generations  in  France, 
Prussia,  and  other  continental  countries.  In  England,  how- 
ever, the  changes  which  came  were  not,  as  were  those  of  the 
period  in  France,  the  product  of  popular  and  violent  uprising. 
Nor  were  they,  as  in  Prussia,  the  handiwork  of  a  benevolently 
paternal  government.  In  contrast  with  the  transformations 
of  France,  furthermore,  they  were  essentially  non-political. 
The  democratization  of  England,  involving  principally  the 
extension  of  the  franchise  and  the  reconstitution  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  was  delayed  until  the  second  and  third 
quarters  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  changes  by  which 
the  England  of  1750  was  converted  into  the  England  of  1825 
were  essentially  industrial  and  social.  For  present  purposes 
they  may  be  grouped  with  convenience  under  two  heads : 
(1)  the  transformation  of  agriculture,  and  (2)  the  revolution 
in  industry.  Eventually,  as  will  appear,  the  progress  of 
political  democracy  was  destined  to  be  profoundly  influenced 
by  these  changes;  but  the  changes  themselves  came  about 
by  natural  economic  development,  quite  apart  from  political 
conditions  or  policies.  The  two  groups  that  have  been  men- 
tioned, the  agricultural  and  the  industrial,  are  intimately 
related,  and  neither  can  be  considered  wholly  apart  from  the 
other.  None  the  less,  they  are  sufficiently  distinct  to  enable 
it  to  be  said  that  either  might  well  have  appeared  without 
the  other. 

62 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE       63 

The  phrase  "industrial  revolution,"  it  must  be  noted,  has 
a  somewhat  technical  signification,  both  in  England  and 
on  the  continent.  It  must  not  be  taken  so  broadly  as  to  be 
the  equivalent  of  "economic  transformation."  The  revolu- 
tion in  France  in  1789-94,  and  that  in  Prussia  in  1807-12 
consisted  largely  in  changes  that  were  economic  in  character. 
The  industrial  revolution,  however,  did  not  take  place  in 
France  before  the  second  quarter,  and  in  Prussia  before  the 
third  quarter,  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Properly  consid- 
ered, the  industrial  revolution  was  the  transformation  which 
came  about  in  the  processes  and  conditions  of  manufacture 
in  consequence  of  the  invention  of  machinery,  especially 
machinery  which  involved  the  application  of  steam-power. 
Its  most  notable  manifestations  were  the  rise  of  the  factory 
system  and  the  growth  of  urban  populations.  No  fixed  dates 
can  be  assigned  for  it  anywhere,  but  in  England  it  may  be 
said  to  have  begun  shortly  after  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  and  to  have  been  largely  completed  by  1825.  The 
"agricultural  revolution"  meant  different  things  in  different 
parts  of  Europe.  What  it  meant  on  the  continent  will  ap- 
pear in  a  subsequent  chapter.  What  it  meant  in  England 
was,  in  brief,  the  concentration  of  the  ownership  and  control 
of  land  in  the  hands  of  a  decreasing  body  of  proprietors,  the 
enclosure  of  the  common  lands  upon  the  use  of  which  the 
cottager  class  had  been  largely  dependent,  the  reduction  of 
many  men  to  the  status  of  wage-earning  agricultural  laborers, 
and  the  driving  of  many  from  agricultural  employment  alto- 
gether. It  began  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century 
and  had  run  its  course  practically  by  1845. 

In  order  to  understand  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  changes 
wrought  by  the  agricultural-industrial  revolution  it  is  neces- 
sary to  bear  in  mind  certain  facts  regarding  the  economic  situ- 
ation in  England  before  the  transformation  came  about.  In 
the  first  place,  England  was  still  predominantly  an  agricul- 
tural country.    Not  until  1792  did  the  production  of  British 


64     SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

grain  fall  below  the  volume  of  home  consumption,  so  that  it 
began  to  be  necessary  for  the  nation  to  rely  regularly  in  some 
degree  upon  imported  foodstuffs.  Long  past  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century  the  tilling  of  the  soil  was  the  standard 
occupation  of  the  laboring  masses.  Cities  were  few  and 
small,  and  city  life  played  a  minor  part  in  the  economy  of  the 
nation.  In  the  second  place,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  condi- 
tions of  land  tenure  were  still  largely  mediaeval.  In  portions 
of  the  country  where  the  manorial  system  had  never  been 
established,  land  was  possessed  outright  by  individual  pro- 
prietors, but  in  more  than  half  of  the  kingdom  at  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century  the  forms  of  tenure  were  governed 
by  survivals  of  the  manorial  regime.  Even  in  communities 
of  this  type  there  were,  of  course,  no  serfs,  and  the  numerous 
and  varied  mediaeval  obligations  of  tenant  to  proprietor  had 
long  since  been  replaced  by  the  payment  of  a  money  rental. 
Cultivators  held  their  land  by  one  of  several  tenures  known  to 
lawyers  as  leasehold,  copyhold,  or  freehold.  Freeholders  were 
largely  independent,  but  leaseholders  and  copyholders,  being 
but  tenants,  were  in  no  small  measure  under  the  proprietor's 
control.  It  was  the  proprietor  who  owned  the  land ;  the  ten- 
ants were  owners  only  of  certain  "rights"  and  "interests" 
which  the  proprietor  vested  in  them.  On  the  manors  gen- 
erally the  ancient  methods  of  administration  —  the  assign- 
ment to  the  tenants  of  scattered  strips  of  arable  ground  in 
unenclosed  fields,  the  non-cultivation  of  a  given  field  every 
third  year,  and  the  vesting  in  the  cultivators  of  common 
rights  in  the  waste-lands  and  meadows  —  still  prevailed. 

The  third  point  of  importance  is  the  inseparable  associa- 
tion in  the  eighteenth  century  of  the  cultivation  of  land  and 
the  domestic  system  of  industry.  The  ordinary  rural  family 
derived  its  support  at  the  same  time  from  agriculture  and 
manufacture.  The  industrial  output  of  England  in  the 
earlier  eighteenth  century  was  large,  but  it  was  the  output, 
not  of  factories,  but  of  the  numerous  and  widely  scattered 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE       65 

"little  industries"  of  the  kingdom.  And  these  little  indus- 
ries  were,  in  the  main,  not  urban,  but  rural.  In  the  towns 
the  ancient  craft-guilds  were  prone  to  maintain  a  policy  of 
exclusion  so  rigid  as  to  preclude  absolutely  the  growth  of 
large  manufacturing  populations,  even  if  the  necessary  con- 
ditions of  large-scale  manufacture  had  been  at  hand.  The 
monopolies  of  the  guilds  were  based  upon  chartered  rights 
and  were  defensible  at  law.  But  in  the  country  districts 
the  guilds  possessed  no  authority,  and  the  result  was  that 
many  forms  of  industry  which  we  instinctively  associate  with 
the  city  came  to  be  carried  on  very  commonly  by  the  rural 
populations  who  were  without  the  pale  of  guild  regulations. 
In  days  when  the  processes  of  manufacture  involved  simple 
handicraft,  not  the  use  of  complicated  and  costly  machines, 
this  was  perfectly  practicable.  One  of  the  most  widespread 
forms  of  domestic  industry  was  the  making  of  woollen  cloth. 
In  the  manufacture  of  this  commodity  virtually  every  process 
involved  could  be,  and  was,  carried  on  under  the  roof  of  the 
humblest  cottager.  The  head  of  the  household  purchased 
the  necessary  wool,  carded  it,  spun  it,  wove  it,  dyed  it,  car- 
ried it  to  the  neighboring  fulling-mill,  stretched  and  roush-fin- 
ished  it,  and  transported  the  product  to  the  nearest  market. 
Woollen  fabrics  commanded  a  ready  sale,  usually  at  a  good 
price,  and  the  petty  agriculturist  who  would  have  found  it 
difficult  enough  to  support  his  family  solely  from  the  product 
of  his  bits  of  ground  had  in  the  woollen  and  other  industries 
a  welcome  opportunity  to  supplement  his  scant  means  of 
livelihood.  It  was  possible  to  utilize  in  profitable  labor  inclem- 
ent days  and  the  winter  months,  and  the  women  and  chil- 
dren were  enabled  to  assist  in  the  support  of  the  household  by 
participating  in  work  which,  as  a  rule,  was  neither  unhealth- 
ful  nor  unpleasant.  For  the  operation  of  such  simple  imple- 
ments as  were  employed  patience  rather  than  skill  was  the 
qualification  most  needful. 
In  his  "  Tour  through  Great  Britain,"  written  at  the  end 


66  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

of  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Daniel  Defoe 
affords  an  interesting  glimpse  of  domestic  manufacturing  as 
he  found  it  in  the  region  of  Halifax,  in  Yorkshire.  "The 
land,"  he  says,  "was  divided  into  small  enclosures  from  two 
acres  to  six  or  seven  each,  seldom  more,  every  three  or  four 
pieces  of  land  having  a  house  belonging  to  them;  hardly  a 
house  standing  out  of  speaking  distance  with  another.  At 
every  considerable  house  there  was  a  manufactory.  Every 
clothier  keeps  one  horse  at  least  to  carry  his  manufactures 
to  the  market ;  and  every  one  generally  keeps  a  cow  or  two, 
or  more,  for  his  family.  By  this  means  the  small  pieces  of 
enclosed  land  about  each  house  are  occupied,  for  they  scarce 
sow  corn  enough  to  feed  their  poultry.  The  houses  are  full 
of  lusty  fellows,  some  at  dye-vat,  some  at  the  looms,  others 
dressing  the  cloths,  the  women  and  children  carding  or  spin- 
ning ;  being  all  employed,  from  the  youngest  to  the  oldest."  l 
It  is  but  fair  to  observe  that  the  conditions  of  domestic 
manufacture  varied  widely  in  different  regions,  and  that  they 
were  distinctly  more  favorable  in  Yorkshire  than  in  southern 
and  southwestern  England.  Even  in  the  north  there  was 
a  certain  amount  of  capitalistic  control,  for  the  producers 
were  absolutely  dependent  for  a  market  upon  the  purchases 
of  large  exporting  merchants,  especially  those  at  Leeds.  But 
in  the  south  the  independence  of  the  cottage  workman  was 
still  less.  He,  as  a  rule,  did  not  buy  his  raw  materials;  they 
were  but  intrusted  to  him  by  a  "merchant  manufacturer,"  or 
clothier,  to  be  worked  up,  and  he  likewise  seldom  owned  even 
the  tools  of  his  trade.  From  the  capitalist-controlled  domes- 
tic industry  of  the  south  the  transition  to  the  factory  system 
became,  with  the  introduction  of  machinery,  very  natural 
and  easy.  Even  where  the  measure  of  industrial  independ- 
ence was  largest,  the  domestic  system  operated  unques- 
tionably in  the  eighteenth  century  to  the  deterioration  at 

1  [Daniel  DeFoe.]     "A  Tour  through  the  Whole  Island  of  Great  Britain" 
By  a  Gentleman.    4  vols.    London,  1724-27. 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE      6) 

some  points  of  the  working  population.  Competition  grew 
keener;  wages  fell;  child  labor  became  more  common; 
workmen  were  led  to  dispose  of  their  lands  because  they  had 
ceased  to  be  able  to  find  time  to  cultivate  them. 

None  the  less,  it  is  obvious  that  the  domestic  system  every- 
where possessed  some  real  advantages  over  the  factory  regime 
of  to-day.  An  able  English  writer  on  industrial  subjects 
has  put  the  matter  as  follows:  "They  [the  laborers]  still  lived 
more  or  less  in  the  country  and  were  not  crowded  together 
in  stifling  alleys  and  courts,  or  long  rows  of  bare,  smoke- 
begrimed  streets  in  houses  like  so  many  dirty  rabbit-hutches. 
Even  if  the  artisan  did  live  in  a  town  at  that  time,  the  town 
was  very  different  from  the  abodes  of  smoke  and  dirt  which 
now  prevail  in  the  manufacturing  districts.  There  were  no 
tall  chimneys,  belching  forth  clouds  of  evil  smoke;  no  huge, 
hot  factories  with  their  hundreds  of  windows  blazing  forth 
a  lurid  light  in  the  darkness,  and  rattling  with  the  whir  and 
din  of  ceaseless  machinery  by  day  and  night.  There  were  no 
gigantic  blast  furnaces  rising  amid  blackened  heaps  of  cinders, 
or  chemical  works  poisoning  the  fields  and  trees  for  miles 
around.  These  were  yet  to  come.  The  factory  and  the  furnace 
were  almost  unknown.  Work  was  carried  on  by  the  artisan 
in  his  little  stone  or  brick  house,  with  the  workshop  inside, 
where  the  wool  for  the  weft  was  carded  and  spun  by  his  wife 
and  daughters,  and  the  cloth  was  woven  by  himself  and  his 
sons.  He  had  also,  in  nearly  all  cases,  his  plot  of  land  near 
the  house,  which  provided  him  both  with  food  and  recreation, 
for  he  could  relieve  the  monotony  of  weaving  by  cultivating 
his  little  patch  of  ground,  or  feeding  his  pigs  and  poultry."  1 

All  in  all,  judged  by  eighteenth  century  standards,  the  con- 
dition of  the  laboring  classes  under  the  domestic  system  of  manu- 
facture was  far  from  bad.  Arthur  Young,  to  whose  writings 
upon  the  social  situation  in  France  reference  has  been  made, 
tells  us  that  among  English  workingmen  in  both  country  and 
1  Gibbins,  "Industrial  History  of  England,"  148. 


68     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

town  in  the  later  portion  of  the  century  wheat  bread  had  en- 
tirely displaced  rye  bread,  that  the  consumption  of  meat  and 
cheese  was  larger  than  at  any  previous  time,  and  that  every 
family  now  drank  tea,  formerly  considered  a  luxury.  "In- 
deed," he  says,  "the  laborers,  by  their  large  wages  and  the 
cheapness  of  all  necessities,  enjoy  better  dwellings,  diet,  and 
apparel  in  England  than  the  husbandmen  or  farmers  in  other 
countries."  "  Not  only  has  grain  become  somewhat  cheaper," 
testifies  Adam  Smith  in  his  "Wealth  of  Nations"  (1776), 
"but  many  <)ther  things  from  which  the  industrious  poor 
derive  an  agreeable  and  wholesome  variety  of  food  have  be- 
come a  great  deal  cheaper."  When,  in  1763,  the  Seven 
Years'  War  was  terminated,  more  than  a  hundred  thousand 
soldiers  were  thrown  upon  the  country  to  find  employment 
and  sustenance;  yet,  as  Adam  Smith  further  testifies,  social 
conditions  were  so  favorable  that,  "not  only  no  great  con- 
vulsion, but  no  sensible  disorder,  arose." 

To  judge  aright  the  English  revolution  in  agriculture  and 
industry,  it  is  essential  that  these  favorable  aspects  of  eigh- 
teenth century  society  be  borne  in  mind.  As  has  been  inti- 
mated, the  tremendous  readjustment  by  which  the  life  of 
the  nation  was  turned  into  channels  that  were  altogether 
new  was  totally  unlike  the  revolutionizing  of  France,  not  only 
in  its  methods,  but  also  in  the  fact  that  it  came  in  response 
to  no  recognized  needs  or  definite  desires  of  the  lower  social 
classes.  It  was  not  the  fruit  of  a  sudden  uprising  —  a  strik- 
ing away  of  the  foundations  of  an  old  regime  and  the  instant 
substitution  of  a  newly  devised  social  structure.  And  it 
came  in  response  to  a  broadening  of  the  social  ideal  and  a 
quickening  of  the  inventive  spirit  which  manifested  them- 
selves quite  as  much  among  the  well-to-do  and  the  influential 
as  among  the  laboring  masses.  There  were  not  a  few  re- 
spects in  which  the  revolution  operated  disadvantageously  for 
the  common  man.  For  a  time  at  least  it  was  not  unlikely  to 
throw  him  out  of  employment,  to  drive  him  to  the  verge  of 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE      69 

destitution.  The  revolution  was  not  of  his  making.  It 
was  accomplished  over  his  head,  and  in  no  small  measure 
in  contravention  of  his  immediate  interests  and  wishes. 

The  twin  agencies  of  the  revolution  were  capitalism  and 
invention.  The  growth  of  capitalism  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury is  a  fundamental  economic  fact;  and  not  merely  the 
growth  of  capitalism  in  itself,  but  the  development  of  the 
social  and  political  power  of  capital.  Not  until  the  period 
mentioned  did  industrial  or  commercial  achievement  begin 
to  be  regarded  as  a  legitimate  basis  of  political  preferment 
and  of  social  distinction.  During  centuries  the  holding  of  land 
had  constituted  the  one  dependable  means  of  acquiring  a 
place  of  influence  in  English  society.  The  merchant  or 
manufacturer,  no  matter  how  clever  he  might  be  or  how 
wealthy  he  might  become,  was  somehow  held  to  be  distinctly 
inferior  to  the  great  landed  proprietor.  To  be  known  as  an 
artisan  or  a  trader,  or  to  have  descended  immediately  from 
such  a  person,  constituted  a  social  stigma.  By  the  consider- 
able expansion  of  English  industrialism  between  the  sixteenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  this  exclusive  social  principle  was 
put  sharply  to  the  test,  and  already  by  the  close  of  the  reign 
of  Queen  Anne  it  was  showing  signs  of  giving  way.  Defoe 
announced  the  startling  fact  that  trade  was  not  inconsistent 
with  the  estate  of  a  gentleman,  and  that  indeed  it  might 
prove  the  making  of  him;  and  Dean  Swift  testifies  that  in 
his  day  the  social  prestige  which  once  had  attached  to  land- 
holding  exclusively  was  fast  being  transferred  to  any  sort  of 
successful  money-making.  By  sheer  force  of  achievement  and 
social  power  the  capitalist  of  the  eighteenth  century  forced 
himself  up  to  the  level  of  the  landholder,  although  he  was 
very  likely  to  seek  to  clinch  his  hard-won  status  by  becoming 
himself  a  landed  proprietor.  By  the  opening  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  rich  mill-owner  or  iron-master  was  not 
infrequently  quite  as  important  socially,  if  not  politically, 
as  the  great  landlord. 


70     SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

It  was  with  this  new  capitalist  class  that  the  industrial 
future  of  England  lay.  The  guilds  had  served  their  day, 
and  indeed  had  far  outlived  their  usefulness.  By  the  last 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  they  had  shrunk  up  into 
narrow  corporations  whose  grasp  upon  industry  was  fast 
being  relaxed.  As  yet  the  independent  capitalists  were  as 
a  rule  only  small  master-manufacturers,  giving  out  pieces 
of  work  to  be  done  by  their  employes  in  their  own  homes. 
These  employes  were  still  apt  to  be  small  farmers,  and  it  was 
not  unusual  for  the  master-manufacturer  also  to  combine 
agriculture  with  industrial  enterprise.  The  day  was  coming, 
however,  when  the  workmen  would  be  gathered  under  a 
common  roof,  when  the  master-manufacturer  would  assume 
the  position  of  an  industrial  magnate,  and  when  industry 
would  be  divorced  all  but  completely  from  country  life  and 
agricultural  occupation. 

The  formative  period  of  the  factory  system  was  the  period 
also  in  England  of  the  beginnings  of  the  revolutionizing  of 
agriculture.  Of  the  two  things  each  served  in  part  both  as 
cause  and  as  effect.  The  rise  of  the  factory  was  facilitated 
by  the  dislodgement  of  large  numbers  of  people  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  live  by  agriculture  and  domestic  manu- 
facturing conjointly.  Conversely,  the  alteration  of  agri- 
cultural economy  was  stimulated  by  the  drawing  off  to  the 
towns  of  the  surplus  rural  population  and  by  the  greatly 
increased  demand  for  foodstuffs  for  the  support  of  the  in- 
dustrial and  trading  classes.  This  relationship  must  not 
be  over-emphasized,  and  neither  revolution  must  be  under- 
stood to  have  been  dependent  upon  the  other.  But  the 
England  of  to-day  is  the  product  largely  of  the  interaction 
of  the  two. 

The  revolution  in  agriculture  worked  itself  out  in  a  variety 
of  directions,  but  the  principal  elements  in  it  were  (i)  a  marked 
improvement  in  the  technique  of  husbandry;  (2)  a  greatly 
increased  application  of  capital  to  agricultural  operations; 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE       71 

(3)  the  concentration  of  land  in  great  estates  owned  by  a 
small  body  of  aristocratic  proprietors  and  operated  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  capitalistic  entrepreneurs  known  techni- 
cally as  "farmers";  and  (4)  the  virtual  disappearance  of 
the  cottager  class  by  which  formerly  the  tilling  of  the  soil 
had  been  carried  on  in  connection  with  domestic  industry. 
The  stimulus  came  originally  from  the  steady  rise  after  1760 
in  the  price  of  agricultural  produce,  occasioned  by  the  in- 
crease of  population  and  of  wealth  derived  from  manufac- 
tures and  commerce.  With  the  growth,  especially  after  1775, 
of  the  factory  system,  great  industrial  centres  appeared, 
whence  came  ever  increasing  demand  for  food,  and  it  was  in 
no  small  measure  to  meet  this  demand  that  farms,  instead 
of  continuing  small  self-sufficing  holdings,  were  enlarged  and 
converted  into  manufactories  of  grain  and  meat.  Within 
the  domain  of  agriculture,  as  in  that  of  industry,  science  and 
skill  were  brought  to  bear,  to  the  end  that  the  product  might 
be  greater  and  the  cost  of  production  less.  Rational  schemes 
of  cropping  replaced  antiquated  ones,  the  art  of  cattle- 
breeding  was  given  fresh  attention,  and  agricultural  machin- 
ery, which  called  for  considerable  initial  outlays,  was  widely 
introduced.  The  husbandry  of  the  new  type  involved  the 
employment  of  capital  and  the  carrying  on  of  farming  opera- 
tions upon  a  large  scale.  The  average  English  husbandman 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  possessed  no  capital  and 
had  very  little  land.  With  the  capitalistic  agriculturists  of 
the  later  decades  he  found  it  more  and  more  difficult  to  com- 
pete, and  the  consequence  was  that  gradually  but  inevitably 
he  was  forced  into  an  entirely  novel  economic  position. 
Through  the  revival  of  enclosures  he  lost  his  rights  in  the 
common  lands  of  his  parish;  the  land  which  he  had  owned 
or  held  individually  he  was  compelled  to  sell  or  otherwise 
alienate ;  while  he  himself  either  went  off  to  become  a  work- 
man in  a  factory  town  or  sank  to  the  status  of  a  wage-earning 
agricultural  laborer. 


72     SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

Gradually  from  the  readjustment  emerged  the  three  great 
classes  of  men  concerned  in  the  English  agriculture  of  latei 
times,  and  of  to-day:  (i)  the  landed  proprietors,  who  let  out 
their  land  in  large  quantities  to  farmers  in  return  for  as  con- 
siderable a  rental  as  they  can  obtain ;  (2)  the  farmers,  who, 
possessing  no  proprietary  interest  in  the  soil  and  no  direct 
community  of  interest  with  either  landlords  or  laborers, 
carry  on  agricultural  operations  upon  these  rented  lands  as 
capitalistic,  profit-making  enterprises;  (3)  the  agricultural 
laborers  who  neither  own  land  nor  manage  it,  but  simply 
work  under  orders  for  weekly  wages,  as  do  the  operatives 
in  the  factories.  It  is  in  consequence  of  this  great  transfor- 
mation that  it  has  been  brought  about  that  among  western 
European  nations  to-day  it  is  Great  Britain  which  has  the 
largest  average  holding,  the  smallest  proportion  of  cultiva- 
tors who  own  their  holdings,  and  the  smallest  acreage  owned 
by  its  cultivators.  In  1876  there  was  published  in  England  a 
body  of  land  statistics  commonly  designated  the  New  Domes- 
day Book.  By  this  return  it  was  shown  that  the  aggregate 
number  of  landowners  in  England  (outside  London)  was 
966,175,  of  which  number  only  262,886  possessed  more  than 
one  acre.  At  the  same  time  France,  with  a  population  only 
a  third  larger,  had  some  5,600,000  landed  proprietors,  and 
Belgium,  with  a  population  of  but  7,000,000,  had  as  many  as 
1,000,000.  From  the  return  it  further  appeared  that  28 
English  dukes  held  estates  aggregating  nearly  4,000,000 
acres;  33  marquises,  1,500,000  acres;  194  earls,  5,862,000 
acres;  and  270  viscounts  and  barons,  3,785,000  acres. 
Nearly  one-half  of  the  enclosed  land  of  England  and  Wales 
was  owned  by  2250  persons;  while  at  the  same  time  nine- 
tenths  of  Scotland  was  owned  by  1700,  and  two-thirds  of 
Ireland  by  1942.  The  divorce  of  the  agricultural  laborer 
from  proprietary  interest  in  the  soil,  which  was  the  outcome  of 
the  capitalistic,  concentrating  transformation  of  agriculture 
between  1775  and  1850,  is  above  all  other  things  the  distinc- 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE       73 

tive  feature  of  British  agricultural  economy  in  the  last  two 
generations. 

By  the  break-up  of  the  domestic  system  of  industry,  occa- 
sioned by  the  development  of  large-scale  manufacturing  and 
of  factory  methods,  the  position  of  the  small-farming  popula- 
tion must  in  any  case  have  been  altered  profoundly  for  the 
worse.  The  process  was  vastly  accelerated,  however,  by  the 
widespread  revival  in  the  later  eighteenth  and  earlier  nine- 
teenth centuries  of  the  enclosure  of  common  lands.  As  has 
been  pointed  out,  the  soil  of  England  was  cultivated  in  the 
eighteenth  century  largely  by  copyhold  and  leasehold  vil- 
lagers, to  whom  were  assigned  scattered  plots  of  unfenced 
ground,  together  with  common  rights  in  the  waste-land, 
woodland,  and  meadows  of  the  parish.  The  fundamentals 
of  this  system  had  survived  essentially  unchanged  from  the 
Middle  Ages.  In  the  fourteenth  century,  and  again  in  the 
days  of  the  early  Tudors,  there  was  a  pronounced  movement 
in  the  direction  of  the  enclosure  of  common  lands  for  private 
use,  mainly  for  purposes  of  sheep-raising,  but  by  legislation 
intended  to  encourage  arable  farming,  and  by  the  eventual 
satisfaction  of  the  market  for  wool,  the  movement  had  been 
held  reasonably  in  check.  At  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  however,  when  three-fifths  of  the  cultivated  land  of 
the  kingdom  was  still  unenclosed,  there  set  in  a  fresh  enclos- 
ure movement  by  which,  in  the  course  of  a  hundred  years 
and  less,  the  status  of  English  agriculture  was  very  distinctly 
modified.  The  argument  for  enclosure,  as  advanced,  for 
example,  by  Arthur  Young,  was  principally  that  the  sub- 
divided and  open-field  system  of  cultivation  was  uneconomi- 
cal, that  it  prevented  the  application  of  scientific  methods 
and  the  realizing  of  full  returns  from  the  land,  and  that  the 
feeding  of  England's  fast-growing  industrial  population 
necessitated  an  improved  utilization  of  the  country's  agricul- 
tural resources.  The  land  was  everywhere  intersected  by 
pathways.     Much  time  must  be  consumed  by  the  cultivator 


74      SOCIAL    PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

in  going  back  and  forth  among  his  scattered  holdings.  The 
individual  cultivator  had  small  inducement  or  opportunity 
to  improve  his  methods  of  tillage.  Neighbors  lived  in  con- 
stant fear  lest  their  bits  of  ground  should  be  encroached  upon 
by  the  unscrupulous. 

To  "enclose"  a  parish  meant  to  redistribute  its  open  fields, 
its  waste-land,  and  its  meadows  among  all  those  who  possessed 
land  rights  within  the  parish  in  such  manner  that  each  of 
these  persons  should  obtain  one  continuous  and  enclosed 
holding  which  would  be  equivalent  to  his  former  scattered 
holdings  in  the  open  fields  plus  the  rights  in  meadow  and 
waste  appurtenant  to  these  holdings.  The  processes  by 
which  enclosure  was  effected  were  various.  Where  it  was 
possible  to  secure  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  holders  of 
rights  and  interests  of  all  kinds  within  the  parish,  the  change 
might  be  carried  through  by  the  authorities  of  the  parish  them- 
selves. Unanimous  consent,  however,  was  not  likely  to  be  ob- 
tained and  in  practice  the  process  was  pretty  certain  to  involve 
two  stages  —  first,  the  procuring  of  the  assent  of  the  posses- 
sors of  four-fifths  of  the  aggregate  value  of  the  land  involved 
and,  second,  the  passage  of  a  special  act  by  Parliament 
authorizing  the  enclosure  and  compelling  the  dissenting  mi- 
nority to  acquiesce.  As  a  rule  enclosure  measures,  in  which 
were  stipulated  the  necessary  arrangements  for  surveys, 
compensation,  and  redistribution,  were  actually  drawn  by 
the  large  landholders  and  other  persons  of  influence  in  the 
parishes  concerned.  In  1801  a  statute  was  enacted  to  make 
easier  the  passage  of  private  bills  for  enclosure.  An  act  of 
1836  went  further  and  made  it  possible,  with  the  consent  of 
two-thirds  of  the  persons  interested,  to  enclose  certain  kinds 
of  common  lands  without  specific  authorization  of  Parlia- 
ment. And  a  general  enclosure  act  of  1845  created  a  board 
of  Enclosure  Commissioners  authorized  to  decide  upon  the 
expediency  of  projected  enclosures  and  to  carry  them  into 
execution  if  approved. 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE       75 

During  the  period  1 760-1830  enclosures  were  especially 
numerous,  and  after  1850  little  open  land  remained.1  The 
lands  enclosed,  unlike  those  enclosed  in  the  fourteenth,  hi- 
teenth,  and  sixteenth  centuries,  were  intended  for  cultiva- 
tion, and  care  was  taken,  as  a  rule,  furthermore,  that  every 
possessor  be  compensated,  either  in  land  or  in  money,  for  all 
of  the  common  rights  of  which  he  was  deprived.  None  the 
less,  the  effects  of  enclosure  upon  the  average  small  holder 
were  likely  to  be  disadvantageous.  Heretofore  the  tenant 
had  been  accustomed  to  utilize  his  own  allotments  of  land 
entirely  for  the  growing  of  crops.  His  cow,  his  donkey,  his 
flock  of  geese,  found  such  sustenance  as  they  could  on  the 
common  lands  of  the  parish.  Now  the  common  lands  dis- 
appeared and  the  cottager  must  not  only  grow  foodstuffs 
for  his  family  upon  his  bit  of  ground,  but  must  also  provide 
upon  it  pasturage  and  meadow  for  his  live  stock.  To  share 
in  the  use  of  an  open  common  might  be,  and  generally  was, 
more  desirable  than  to  occupy  exclusively  a  petty  enclosed 
holding.  Not  infrequently  the  compensation  which  the 
individual  cottager  obtained  for  the  common  rights  which 
he  yielded,  took  the  form  of  money.  Such  sums,  however, 
were  easily  expended,  and  the  cottager  was  apt  to  find  him- 
self without  anything  to  show  for  the  valuable  rights  which 
once  he  had  possessed.     To  his  difficulties  was  added  the  fact 

1  The  number  of  enclosure  acts  passed  by  Parliament  between  1700  and  1850 
and  the  approximate  area  of  the  lands  enclosed  were  as  follows : 

No.  of  enclosure  acta  Acres  enclosed 

1700-59 244 337,877 

1760-69 385 704,550 

1770-79 660 1,207,800 

1780-89 246 450,180 

1790-99 469 858,270 

1800-09 847 1,550,010 

1810-19 853 1,560,990 

1820-29 205 375.150 

1830-39 136 248,880 

1840-40 66 394,747 


76      SOCIAL    PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

that  the  application  of  capital  to  agriculture  on  the  part  oi 
the  large  landholders,  and  the  introduction  of  methods  of 
cultivation  which  were  for  him  impracticable,  placed  him  at 
a  distinct  disadvantage  in  the  growing  of  marketable  produce. 
At  the  same  time,  the  ruin  of  the  domestic  system  of  indus- 
try deprived  him  of  a  supplementary  means  of  livelihood. 
Against  the  spread  of  enclosures  there  was  much  protest. 
The  point  of  view  of  the  small  holder  is  represented  in  a  bit 
of  current  doggerel : 

"  The  law  locks  up  the  man  or  woman 
Who  steals  the  goose  from  off  the  commorv ; 
But  leaves  the  greater  villain  loose 
Who  steals  the  common  from  the  goose." 

Protest,  however,  was  unavailing.  With  the  growth  of 
population,  the  increase  of  demand  for  agricultural  products, 
and  the  introduction  of  capitalistic  and  scientific  methods 
of  agriculture,  the  pressure  for  the  close  utilization  of  the 
whole  of  the  arable  land  of  the  kingdom  was  irresistible. 
What  happened  can  be  stated  briefly.  Finding  themselves 
unable,  under  the  changed  conditions,  to  gain  a  livelihood 
on  their  enclosures,  the  cottagers  turned  to  one  or  the  other 
of  alternative  expedients.  Great  numbers  of  them,  attracted 
by  the  new  opportunities  offered  by  factory  employment, 
drifted  to  the  towns  and  became  factory  wage-earners. 
Many  others  remained  on  the  land,  but  sank  to  the  status 
of  hired  laborers.  The  small-cultivator  class  to  which  they 
had  belonged  decayed  and  all  but  disappeared.  As  one  after 
another  the  enclosed  holdings  were  abandoned  they  were 
added  to  other  holdings,  or,  more  likely,  to  the  holding  of  the 
lord  of  the  old  manor,  and  in  this  fashion  was  carried  forward 
the  gradual  consolidation  of  the  great  holdings  of  our  own 
day.  The  process  was  supplemented  by  the  very  general 
purchase  by  industrial  capitalists  of  lands  owned  by  the 
smaller  freeholders  or  yeomen.  During  the  Napoleonic 
wars  prices  were  high  and  land  rose  to  a  value  forty  times  its 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH   AGRICULTURE       77 

rent.  Even  under  such  conditions  the  new  industrial  leaders, 
desirous  of  acquiring  the  social  and  political  status  still  in 
a  measure  associated  with  the  ownership  of  land,  were  willing 
to  purchase  freely.  But  in  the  great  era  of  agricultural 
distress  which  followed  the  establishment  of  peace  in  18 15 
the  desire  on  the  part  of  the  yeomanry  to  sell  became  almost 
universal,  and  the  number  of  sales  rose  to  astonishing  propor- 
tions. Small  freeholders  very  generally  gave  way  to  capital- 
ist landlords,  and  by  numerous  intermarriages  between  the 
new  capitalist  and  the  old  landowning  families  the  consolida- 
tion of  estates  was  carried  still  farther.  By  1845  the  process 
of  concentration  may  be  said  to  have  passed  through  its  most 
important  stages. 

To  understand  the  full  significance  of  the  revolution 
wrought  by  this  consolidation  it  is  necessary  to  take  into 
account  a  fundamental  principle  of  English  law  by  which  the 
system  of  great  estates  is  bolstered  up  and  a  reversion  to 
more  numerous  and  smaller  holdings  is  rendered  more  than 
ordinarily  difficult.  This  is  the  principle  of  entail,  or  "land 
settlement."  Throughout  the  course  of  English  history 
there  has  been  a  pronounced  disposition  to  regard  the  un- 
broken transmission  of  landed  estates  from  generation  to 
generation  as  an  essential  guarantee  of  social  stability,  and 
much  of  the  time  there  have  been  positive  laws  rendering 
such  transmission  obligatory  and  irrevocable.  Through  two 
centuries  prior  to  1472  great  landowners  were  forbidden  by 
statute  to  alienate  any  portion  of  their  estates  or  to  bar  the 
succession  of  their  nearest  heirs.  In  1472  a  method  was  de- 
vised whereby  the  holder  could  obtain  sufficiently  complete 
power  over  his  land  to  divide  it  or  sell  it,  and  the  great  body 
of  smaller  freeholders  who  formed  the  backbone  of  the  royal- 
ist cause  in  the  seventeenth  century  sprang  largely  from  the 
operation  of  this  device.  Not  until  1834  was  the  alienation 
of  estates  again  forbidden ;  but  long  ere  this  there  grew  up 
a  custom  whereby  the  same  end  was  largely  attained.    This 


78  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

custom  was  the  so-called  "family  settlement,"  through  which 
the  present  holder  and  his  heir  settle  the  estate  upon  the 
eldest  son  of  the  heir,  giving  the  heir  himself  only  a  life  in- 
terest when  he  succeeds.  Family  interests  and  sentiments 
have  operated  to  perpetuate  this  custom,  and  at  the  present 
day  full  two-thirds  of  the  great  estates  of  England  are  held 
in  accordance  with  the  settlement  principle.  Ownership  is 
vested  regularly  in  a  person  who  stands  two  generations 
removed  from  the  present  possessor.  In  this  manner  the 
great  estates  are  prevented  from  being  thrown  readily  upon 
the  market.  Failure  of  heirs  is  virtually  the  only  contin- 
gency in  which  there  is  any  chance  of  alienation.  To  indus- 
trialism and  enclosure  must,  therefore,  be  added  entail  as 
an  agency  by  which  the  small  landholding  class  in  England 
not  merely  has  been  reduced  to  the  most  meagre  proportions, 
but  has  been  prevented  from  being  revived.  As  will  appear 
elsewhere,  the  situation  of  England  in  this  respect  is  totally 
unlike  that  of  France,  Belgium,  Denmark,  and  other  con- 
tinental countries,  where  holdings  of  land  must  be  divided 
among  all  the  children  of  the  owner,  and  where  the  obstacles 
to  the  acquisition  of  land  in  small  quantities  by  any  person 
are  kept  at  a  minimum. 

From  the  pronounced  agricultural  depression  of  the  period 
following  the  Napoleonic  wars  England  gradually  recovered 
during  the  decade  1840-50,  and  during  the  third  quarter 
of  the  century  landholding  interests  were  distinctly  prosper- 
ous. The  scientific  and  mechanical  improvements  of  earlier 
decades  were  widely  adopted,  and  the  effect  of  intensive 
cultivation  was  to  force  the  wheat  yield  per  acre  to  a  higher 
figure  than  that  in  any  other  country  of  the  world  save 
Belgium.  Beginning  with  1874  and  1875,  however,  there  set 
in  a  new  era  of  depression  which  in  a  considerable  measure 
has  continued  to  our  own  day.  A  parliamentary  commission 
of  1879  reported  that  the  distress  of  agriculture  was  attrib- 
utable in  part  to  bad  seasons  and  the  prevalence  of  the  cattle 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE       79 

plague,  but  chiefly  to  the  corr petition  of  foreign-grown  grain, 
made  possible  by  good  harvests  abroad  and  by  the  improve- 
ment and  cheapening  of  freight  transportation  from  the  out- 
lying portions  of  the  world.  The  persistence  of  the  depres- 
sion forced  the  land  question  again  to  the  front,  and  in  1885 
the  Liberals  made  land  reform  an  important  part  of  their 
program.  In  1882,  1887,  and  1890  allotment  acts  were 
passed  by  Parliament  to  facilitate  the  rental  of  land  by  the 
local  authorities  to  persons  who  should  apply  for  it.  The 
effect  of  these  measures  was  slight,  and  in  1890  a  parliamen- 
tary committee,  whose  chairman  was  Joseph  Chamberlain, 
brought  in  a  report  recommending  specific  steps  for  the 
encouragement  of  small  holdings,  as  distinguished  from  mere 
allotments.  In  1892  there  was  passed  a  Small  Holdings  Act 
whereby  the  county  councils  were  authorized  to  borrow 
money  from  the  Public  Works  Loan  Commission,  to  buy 
land,  and  to  let  it  in  parcels  not  exceeding  fifty  acres,  one- 
fifth  of  the  purchase  money  being  paid  at  once  and  the  re- 
mainder within  fifty  years,  unless  the  council  should  decree 
that  one-fourth  should  remain  as  a  permanent  rent  due  from 
the  land.  In  1894  district  and  parish  councils  were  created, 
and  upon  the  parish  councils  was  conferred  the  power  to  rent 
land  compulsorily  for  allotment  purposes.  The  act  of  1892, 
from  which  much  was  expected,  failed  to  yield  results.  In- 
deed, during  fifteen  years  it  remained  practically  inoperative, 
prior  to  1908  only  850  acres  having  been  purchased  under  it. 
In  1896,  in  accordance  with  the  suggestion  of  a  parliamentary 
commission  appointed  in  1893,  an  Agricultural  Rates  Act 
relieved  the  tension  somewhat  by  freeing  agricultural  land 
from  one-half  the  current  rates,  and  in  1900  the  benefits  of 
the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  of  1897  were  extended 
to  agricultural  laborers. 

The  most  momentous  piece  of  land  legislation  in  Great 
Britain  during  recent  years  is  the  Small  Holdings  and  Allot- 
ments Act  of  1907,  amending  the  Allotment  Acts  of  1887  and 


80     SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

1890  and  the  Small  Holdings  Act  of  1892.  As  denned  by 
this  measure,  a  "small  holding"  is  an  agricultural  holding 
which  exceeds  one  acre  and  either  does  not  exceed  50  acres  or, 
if  exceeding  50  acres,  is  of  an  annual  value  not  exceeding  £50. 
By  the  terms  of  the  Act  the  county  councils  are  authorized 
(as  previously  they  were  not)  to  acquire  land  compulsorily 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  small  holdings  to  be  let  to 
applicants.  After  due  notification  and  an  inquiry  conducted 
by  the  Small  Holdings  Commissioners,  the  council  may  take 
land  at  the  current  market  price  from  the  large  landholders, 
even  contrary  to  their  will.  The  duty  of  providing  allot- 
ments remains  with  the  parish  councils,  though  if  these  bodies 
fail  to  act  the  duty  devolves  upon  the  county  organizations. 
The  Board  of  Agriculture,  furthermore,  is  empowered  to 
compel  local  rural  authorities  to  meet  all  legitimate  demands 
for  holdings. 

Unlike  all  earlier  measures  of  the  kind,  the  Act  of  1907  has 
proved  productive  of  important  results.  Prior  to  January, 
191 1,  there  had  been  allotted,  or  arrangements  had  been 
effected  for  the  allotment  of,  an  aggregate  of  96,180  acres, 
providing  for  over  8000  applicants,  aside  from  2000  other 
applicants  provided  for  in  the  same  period  by  holdings 
granted  by  private  owners  direct,  under  stimulus  imparted 
by  the  county  councils.1  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that 
those  who  obtain  holdings  become  all  but  universally  ten- 
ants, not  owners.  Of  the  total  number  of  applicants  referred 
to,  only  2.3  per  cent  expressed  willingness  to  purchase  the  land 
assigned  them.  The  small  holder  is  poor ;  such  capital  as  he 
has  he  needs  to  invest  in  live  stock,  machinery,  and  the 
development  of  his  land ;  and  from  the  "  misery  of  mortgage  " 
he  instinctively  shrinks.  Upon  the  public-owned  land  his 
tenancy  is  secure,  and  should  he  be  compelled  to  give  up  his 
holding  he  is  certain  of  fair  compensation  for  improvements 
into  which  he  has  put  labor  and  perhaps  money.     In  view 

1  Alden,  "Democratic  England,"  250. 


TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE      8 1 

of  these  things  it  seems  not  improbable  that  the  Act  of  1907 
will  operate  long  to  increase  the  amount  of  land  which  is 
purchased  and  held  by  the  public  authorities,  rather  than  to 
distribute  its  ownership  more  generally  among  individuals. 
Tenancies  of  the  sort  that  are  being  established,  however, 
possess  some  distinct  advantages  for  the  cautious  and  the 
inexperienced,  and  with  the  further  working  out  of  the  sys- 
tem purchases  may  well  become  relatively  more  numerous. 
Through  the  establishment  of  agricultural  cooperative 
societies,  and  the  subsidizing  of  agricultural  education  pro- 
vided for  in  the  Development  Act  of  1909,  conditions  requi- 
site to  the  rehabilitation  of  a  substantial  small  farmer  class 
in  the  United  Kingdom  seem  in  a  fair  way  to  be  supplied. 

It  is  easy  to  cite  statistics  from  which  it  can  be  made  to 
appear  that  the  condition  of  English  agriculture  is  well-nigh 
hopeless.  Between  185 1  and  1901  the  total  number  of  per- 
sons engaged  in  agricultural  operations  in  the  United  King- 
dom fell  from  3,453,500  to  2,262,600.  Between  1881  and 
1910  the  quantity  of  cultivated  land  in  England  alone  was 
diminished  by  some  3,000,000  acres.  Since  1870  the  aggre- 
gate value  of  land  has  declined  by  £20,000,000  per  annum. 
Still  more  ominous,  perhaps,  is  the  fact  that,  although  the 
competition  of  the  United  States,  whose  exports  of  grain  are 
now  irregular  and  uncertain,  is  being  reduced,  there  remain 
vast  over-sea  fields  of  foodstuffs  production,  notably  Canada, 
South  America,  and  Australia,  whose  output  of  meats  and 
cereals,  and  even  of  dairy  and  garden  produce,  will  continue 
to  afford  the  British  husbandman  the  severest  sort  of  competi- 
tion. None  the  less,  the  prospect  of  an  agricultural  revival, 
gradual  but  substantial,  is  at  least  promising.  If  the  aristo- 
cratic monopoly  of  land  still  largely  persists,  the  nation  has 
been  brought  to  recognize  the  seriousness  of  the  situation 
and  to  support  radical  measures  looking  toward  reform.  It 
is  a  certainty  that  the  owners  of  land  have  increased  consid- 
erably in  number ;  and,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  the  Holding 


82     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

Act  of  1907  seems  to  have  inaugurated  a  new  era  in  land  dis- 
tribution. From  the  mediaeval  peasant  cultivating  his  strips 
of  ground  and  sharing  in  the  use  of  the  common  fields  of  the 
manor  to  the  landless  laborer  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
transition  was  slow  and  painful.  From  the  landless  prole- 
tariat to  a  nation  of  small  farmers  the  transition  can  scarcely 
be  expected  to  be  speedier  or  less  arduous.  But  it  is  impor- 
tant to  observe  that  the  trend  to-day  is  distinctly  in  that 
direction. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION   IN   ENGLAND 

The  transformation  in  English  agriculture  which  took 
place  between  1775  and  1850  was  paralleled,  and  in  some 
measure  affected,  by  fundamental  changes  within  the  domain 
of  industry.  These  changes,  as  has  been  explained,  consisted 
broadly  in  the  decay  of  the  domestic  system  of  manufactur- 
ing and  the  rise  of  the  factory  system,  involving  the  concen- 
tration of  industrial  operations  and  a  very  notable  growth  of 
towns.  The  causes  of  the  revolution  in  industry,  and  the 
reasons  why  the  revolution  came  first  in  England  rather  than 
on  the  continent,  are  numerous,  complex,  and  in  a  consider- 
able measure  elusive.  Three  favoring  conditions,  however, 
are  obvious.  The  first  was  the  relative  abundance  in  Eng- 
land of  capital  and  of  skilled  labor.  The  second  was  the 
extension  of  the  control  of  domestic  industry  by  merchant- 
manufacturers,  rendering  easier  the  transition  to  the  factory. 
The  third  was  the  early  and  rapid  progress  of  mechanical 
invention. 

Upon  neither  the  volume  nor  the  employment  of  capital 
in  the  eighteenth  century  have  we  statistics  of  value  for 
England  or  for  any  other  country.  All  known  facts,  however, 
indicate  that  England  offered  larger  opportunities  and  higher 
rewards  for  the  accumulation  of  capital  than  did  any  other 
portion  of  Europe.  Political  and  religious  conditions  were 
more  favorable  than  in  France  or  Germany,  and  the  degree 
of  economic  liberty  enjoyed  was  distinctly  larger.  The  supply, 
too,  of  skilled  or  easily  trained  labor  was  superior.  In  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  England  attracted, 
especially  from  the  Netherlands  and  from  France,  many  of 

83 


84      SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  best  artisans  of  Europe  (notably  those  who  withdrew 
from  France  following  the  revocation,  in  1685,  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes),  and  in  this  manner  the  industrial  energy  and  in- 
telligence of  the  working  classes  were  materially  augmented. 

In  the  next  place,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  coordination  of 
industry  upon  a  considerable  scale  did  not  originate  with  the 
factory  system.  Even  prior  to  the  eighteenth  century  the 
advantages  of  the  concentration  of  labor  and  of  materials 
under  the  immediate  supervision  of  an  employer  or  manager 
did  not  escape  comment,  and  in  some  degree  the  principle 
had  been  put  in  operation  in  the  small  metal  and  other  indus- 
tries. In  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  the  woollen 
industry,  especially  in  southern  England,  was  brought  under 
the  control  largely  of  merchant-manufacturers  who  owned 
the  raw  material,  and  often  the  tools  of  the  trade,  and  who 
employed  combers,  weavers,  dyers,  fullers,  and  other  work- 
men whose  services  from  time  to  time  were  needed.  These 
workmen  lived  still  apart  and  carried  on  their  labor  in  their 
own  homes  or  shops.  From  this  arrangement  it  was,  how- 
ever, but  a  step  to  the  gathering  of  the  materials  and  pro- 
cesses of  manufacture  under  a  single  roof  and  the  settlement 
of  the  laborers  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  factory  or  mill. 

But  factory  labor,  to  be  profitable,  required  the  im- 
provement and  increased  utilization  of  machinery;  and  the 
third  favoring  circumstance  of  the  industrial  transformation 
became  the  early  and  remarkable  development  in  England 
of  invention.  There  has  been  no  small  amount  of  specula- 
tion as  to  why  England  should  have  produced  the  unrivalled 
galaxy  of  inventors  —  Kay,  Hargreaves,  Arkwright,  Cromp- 
ton,  Cartwright,  Radcliffe,  Horrocks,  Newcomen,  Watt,  Cort, 
and  a  host  of  others  —  by  whom  in  the  eighteenth  and  earlier 
nineteenth  centuries  the  industrial  leadership  of  the  king- 
dom was  so  firmly  established.  It  was  not  because  the  need 
of  improved  mechanical  appliances  was  more  keenly  felt 
than  in  France,  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  other  countries. 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION  IN   ENGLAND       85 

It  was  not  because  England  was  a  leader  in  pure  science.  It 
seems  to  have  been  primarily  because  of  two  things,  —  first  the 
fact  that  the  need  was  as  keenly  felt  as  elsewhere,  and  second 
the  pronounced  tendency  of  English  genius,  at  any  rate  in  the 
period  mentioned,  in  the  direction  of  practical,  applied  science, 
rather  than  in  that  of  pure  science.  While  continental 
savants  prosecuted  their  researches  in  light,  electricity,  and 
chemical  reactions,  Englishmen  of  scientific  interests  busied 
themselves  with  the  application  of  knowledge  already  avail- 
able. With  but  an  exception  or  two,  the  English  inventors 
were  men  of  very  ordinary  education,  and  several  of  them 
were  but  tinkers  and  jacks-of -all-trades.  Through  an  infinite 
amount  of  patient  experimentation  they  contrived  to  bring 
to  bear  upon  the  problems  of  everyday  industry  the  discover- 
ies of  their  more  brilliant  continental  contemporaries.  Watt, 
for  example,  made  practical  use  of  the  expansive  power  of 
heat,  and  the  result  was  the  steam-engine ;  but  the  idea  that 
such  a  thing  could  be  done  seems  to  have  originated  with  a 
physicist  of  Marburg.  The  steam-engine  came  in  response 
to  a  very  definite  need  —  the  need,  that  is,  of  pumps  of  greater 
power  in  mines  which  were  reaching  levels  where  the  old 
hand-power  or  horse-power  pumps  could  not  be  made  to 
serve.  Here  and  in  scores  of  other  cases  the  principle  that 
necessity  precedes  invention  was  abundantly  illustrated, 
even  though  continental  experience  demonstrated  that 
necessity  does  not  always  produce  invention. 

The  historical  importance  of  the  mechanical  inventions  of 
the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  can  hardly  be  exagger- 
ated. "They  serve,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "to  explain  the 
world  in  which  we  live,  with  its  busy  cities,  its  gigantic  facto- 
ries filled  with  complicated  machinery,  its  commerce  and  vast 
fortunes,  its  trade  unions  and  labor  parties,  its  bewildering 
variety  of  plans  for  bettering  the  lot  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
people.  The  story  of  the  substitution  for  the  distaff  of  the 
marvellous  spinning-machine  with  its  swiftly  flying  fingers,  of 


86     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

the  development  of  the  locomotive  and  the  ocean  steamer 
which  bind  together  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  of  the 
perfecting  press,  producing  a  hundred  thousand  newspapers 
an  hour,  of  the  marvels  of  the  telegraph  and  the  telephone, 
—  this  story  of  mechanical  invention  is  in  no  way  inferior  in 
fascination  and  importance  to  the  more  familiar  history  of 
kings,  parliaments,  wars,  treaties,  and  constitutions."  1  The 
long  series  of  inventions  by  which  English  industry,  and 
eventually  the  industry  of  the  world,  was  transformed  had 
its  beginning  prior  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and,  naturally  enough,  in  the  staple  English  industry  of 
modern  times,  cloth-making.  Its  effects  first  assumed  im- 
portance in  the  manufacture  of  cottons,  and  only  later  in  that 
of  woollens.  The  woollen  industry  was  of  much  greater  an- 
tiquity than  the  cotton,  and  its  methods  and  traditions  were 
more  firmly  fixed.  In  the  eighteenth  century  the  cotton 
industry  was  but  beginning  to  rival  the  woollen,  and  it  was 
not  until  1802  that  the  exports  of  cottons  became  equal  to 
those  of  woollens.  Under  these  circumstances  it  was  but 
natural  that  innovations  should  find  broadest  scope  in  cotton 
manufacture. 

From  early  times  a  principal  difficulty  in  the  manufacture 
of  cotton,  and  in  a  measure  also  of  woollen,  cloth  was  that  of 
preserving  some  sort  of  balance  between  the  two  fundamen- 
tal processes  of  spinning  and  weaving.  Both  processes,  of 
course,  were  carried  on  by  hand ;  but  of  the  two,  spinning  was 
so  much  the  slower  that  from  five  to  ten  spinners  were  re- 
quired to  keep  one  weaver  occupied.  Under  the  domestic 
form  of  industry  the  weaving  was  likely  to  be  done  by  the 
head  of  the  household,  aided  by  grown  sons  or  hired  work- 
men, while  the  women  and  children,  with  such  outside  help 
as  might  be  obtained,  produced  as  best  they  could  the  nec- 
essary yarn.  In  1738  John  Kay,  of  Bury  in  Lancashire, 
patented  a  device  known  as  the  "flying  shuttle"  by  means 

1  Robinson  and  Beard,  "Development  of  Modern  Europe,"  II.,  31. 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION  IN  ENGLAND       87 

of  which,  regardless  of  the  breadth  of  the  cloth  being  woven, 
a  weaver  was  able  to  propel  without  assistance  the  shuttle 
by  which  the  cotton  weft  was  carried  back  and  forth  through 
the  threads  composing  the  linen  warp.  By  this  invention 
the  speed  and  product  of  the  weavers  and  the  spinners  was 
made  still  more  disproportionate.  One  man  could  operate 
a  loom  that  formerly  had  required  the  attention  of  two,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  machine's  productive  capacity  was 
doubled.  The  demand  for  cotton  thread  and  for  yarn  outran 
more  than  ever  the  supply,  and  in  1761  the  Royal  Society 
for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts  and  Manufactures  offered  two 
prizes  for  inventions  which  would  enable  the  spinning-wheel 
to  produce  more  than  one  thread  at  a  time. 

The  desired  end  was  almost  immediately  attained.  In 
1764  James  Hargreaves,  a  Lancashire  weaver,  brought  to 
completion  his  "  spinning- jenny  "  which  carried  at  first  eight 
threads,  then  sixteen,  then  twenty,  and  within  the  inventor's 
own  lifetime  eighty  —  a  machine,  furthermore,  which  could 
be  operated  by  a  child.  The  thread  spun  by  the  Kay  machine, 
however,  was  that  to  be  employed  in  the  weft  alone.  The 
full  results  of  the  improvement  could  not  be  realized  until 
the  requisite  thread  for  the  warp  could  be  similarly  increased. 
This  need,  too,  was  promptly  supplied.  In  1771  Richard 
Arkwright,  a  travelling  peddler,  set  up  a  mill  at  Cromford,  in 
Derbyshire,  in  which  he  brought  into  use  his  newly  patented 
"water-frame,"  a  machine  which  by  the  peculiar  firmness 
which  it  imparted  to  the  thread  it  spun  made  it  possible  for 
the  first  time  to  dispense  with  linen  in  cotton  manufacture 
and  to  produce  cloth  wholly  of  cotton.  Arkwright  was  in 
reality  no  inventor.  At  the  most,  he  but  combined  ingen- 
iously devices  appropriated  from  other  people.  But  the 
introduction  of  the  water-frame  was  an  event  of  prime  im- 
portance in  the  history  of  textile  manufacture,  not  only 
because  the  "water-twist"  demonstrated  the  practicability 
of  all-cotton  cloth,  but  because  the  cumbrousness  of  the 


88     SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

mechanism  involved  and  the  necessity  of  water-power  ab- 
solutely precluded  the  use  of  the  machine  in  cottages,  and 
accordingly  stimulated  powerfully  the  growth  of  the  factory 
principle.  In  1779  Samuel  Crompton,  of  Lancashire,  brought 
together  the  best  features  of  the  Hargreaves  and  Arkwright 
machines  in  what  came  to  be  known  commonly  as  the  "  mule," 
or  the  "mule-jenny,"  a  remarkable  mechanism  which  has 
been  improved  until  it  to-day  carries  two  thousand  spindles 
and  calls  for  so  little  attention  that  several  machines  can  be 
operated  by  one  person.  It  was  by  Crompton 's  improve- 
ments that  the  spinning  of  very  fine  and  soft  cotton  thread 
was  first  made  possible,  a  consequence  of  which  was  the 
starting  in  England  of  the  manufacture  of  muslins.  The 
inventions  of  Hargreaves,  Arkwright,  and  Crompton  im- 
parted to  English  textile  industries  a  stimulus  that  was  truly 
remarkable.  Not  only  was  the  manufacture  of  woollens, 
silks,  and  linens  increased  in  ease,  speed,  and  amount,  but 
the  production  of  cottons  was  brought  into  the  forefront 
of  profitable  industries.  By  Eli  Whitney's  invention  of  the 
cotton-gin,  in  1792,  the  American  stock  of  raw  material  was 
put  in  the  way  of  indefinite  increase,  and  thereafter  the  pro- 
duction of  cotton  thread  in  England  was  limited  only  by  the 
demand  of  the  cotton  weavers. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  improvements  that  have  been  men- 
tioned quite  reversed  the  traditional  relations  between  the 
spinners  and  the  weavers.  It  was  now  the  weavers  who 
lagged  behind,  for  in  weaving  there  had  been  no  advance 
since  the  introduction  of  the  Kay  shuttle.  Until  near  the 
close  of  the  century  the  best  looms  in  existence  were  operated 
by  hand  and  were  of  severely  limited  productive  capacity. 
From  1784  onward  a  Kentish  clergyman,  Dr.  Edward  Cart- 
wright,  the  inventor  of  a  machine  for  wool-combing,  gradually 
worked  out  the  principles  of  the  first  power-loom,  to  be  oper- 
ated by  water.  In  1791  a  Manchester  firm  contracted  to 
take  four  hundred  of  the  Cartwright  looms.    Not  much  was 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION   IN   ENGLAND       89 

made  of  the  invention,  however,  until  the  close  of  the  first 
decade  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  in  the  meantime, 
while  the  spinning  industry  had  been  taken  largely  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  domestic  workmen  and  concentrated  in  mills, 
hand-loom  weaving  in  the  homes  of  the  working-men  con- 
tinued much  as  before.  In  1809  Parliament  voted  Cart- 
wright  a  subsidy  of  £10,000  in  recognition  of  his  services  to 
industry.  At  the  hands  of  Radcliffe,  Horrocks,  and  other 
inventors  the  Cartwright  loom  was  so  improved  that  it  could 
produce  finer  grades  of  cloth  than  was  originally  possible, 
and  by  181 5  the  machine  was  coming  into  common  use  and 
was  enabling  the  weavers  in  their  turn  to  catch  up  with  the 
spinners.  The  delay  in  the  power-loom's  adoption  is  to  be 
explained  in  part  by  the  lack  of  speed  and  other  defects 
of  the  mechanism  itself  and  in  part  by  the  opposition 
of  the  weavers  as  a  class,  but  perhaps  principally  by  the 
unsatisfactory  nature  of  water-power.  By  the  introduction 
of  steam  the  last-mentioned  difficulty  was  removed,  and  after 
the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  the  weaving  industry  began 
rapidly  to  be  concentrated  in  factories,  just  as  had  the  spin- 
ning industry  a  generation  earlier.  The  widespread  adop- 
tion of  the  steam-power  loom  was  the  last  blow  by  which  the 
destruction  of  the  domestic  system  of  industry  was  largely 
accomplished.  In  1813  there  were  but  2300  power-looms  in 
operation ;    in  1833  there  were  100,000. 

It  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized  that  the  vital  ele- 
ments in  the  industrialism  of  the  new  era  were  power  and 
combination.  Machinery  presupposes  power  and  necessi- 
tates concentration  of  capital  and  effort,  and  a  fundamen- 
tal aspect  of  the  revolutionizing  of  eighteenth  century  in- 
dustry was  the  introduction  of  new  agencies  of  power,  notably 
steam,  no  less  than  the  transferring  of  labor  from  the  homes 
of  the  people  to  the  mill  and  factory.  The  steam-engine, 
than  which  no  mechanical  device  has  wrought  greater  changes 
in  the  economy  of  the  world,  is  the  product  of  inventions 


90     SOCIAL    PROGRESS    IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

covering  a  long  range  of  time.  The  expansive  power  of 
steam  was  well  enough  understood  by  the  ancients,  but  never 
until  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  means 
devised  by  which  this  power  could  be  put  to  practical  use. 
About  1705  Newcomen  introduced  the  principle  of  the  cyl- 
inder and  piston  and  produced  an  engine  which  was  of  con- 
siderable service  in  pumping.  In  1763  James  Watt  set 
himself  the  task  of  improving  Newcomen's  engine  and  of 
rendering  it  more  widely  available  for  the  purposes  of  manu- 
facture. In  1768  Watt  formed  a  partnership  with  a  Bir- 
mingham capitalist,  Matthew  Bolton,  and  in  1769  he  took 
out  his  first  patent.  By  closing  both  ends  of  the  cyclinder 
and  arranging  for  the  driving  of  the  piston  back  and  forth 
entirely  by  steam,  by  introducing  the  revolving  balls,  or 
"governor,"  to  impart  regularity  of  motion,  and  by  perfect- 
ing an  arrangement  of  rod  and  crank  permitting  the  driving 
of  a  wheel  connected  by  a  belt  with  the  machinery  to  be  run, 
Watt  brought  the  steam-engine  to  a  form  such  that  it  was 
adaptable  for  the  first  time  to  the  operation  of  spinning 
machines,  power-looms,  and  other  mechanical  devices. 
Steam  was  first  employed  to  run  spinning  machines  in  1785 
at  Papplewick,  in  Nottinghamshire,  and  by  1800  there  were 
eleven  of  Watt's  engines  in  use  in  Birmingham,  twenty  in 
Leeds,  thirty-two  in  Manchester,  and  many  in  other  in- 
dustrial centres  throughout  the  kingdom. 

At  the  same  time  that  machines  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
industrial  output  and  for  the  application  of  steam-power 
were  being  perfected,  a  revolution  was  under  way  in  the 
manufacture  of  machinery,  and  likewise  in  the  obtaining  of 
fuel  requisite  for  the  carrying  on  of  this,  and  of  every  other, 
kind  of  large-scale  manufacture.  Northern  and  north  cen- 
tral England  were  underlaid  with  invaluable  deposits  of 
iron  ore  and  coal,  but  it  was  not  until  after  1750  that  the 
proper  modes  of  utilizing  these  resources  came  to  be  at  all 
understood.     As  late  as  the  date  mentioned,  the  amount  of 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION  IN   ENGLAND        91 

pig-iron  imported  into  England  was  increasing  year  by  year, 
for  the  reason,  principally,  that  the  English  iron-masters  were 
unable  to  obtain  for  their  furnaces  the  fuel  which  they  needed. 
The  fuel  used  was  charcoal,  and  a  charcoal  furnace  yielded 
but  three  hundred  tons  of  iron  a  year.  During  the  course  of 
the  seventeenth  century  effort  was  made  to  utilize  coal  in 
smelting,  but  chemical  properties  which  there  were  no  known 
means  of  overcoming  thwarted  all  attempts.  In  1735  suc- 
cess was  attained  in  smelting  with  coke,  though  the  value  of 
the  discovery  was  lessened  by  the  fact  that  the  product  did 
not  possess  the  desired  quality  of  malleability.  In  1760  the 
crude  bellows  employed  to  supply  the  necessary  blast  was 
replaced  by  Smeaton's  cyclinder-blowing  apparatus,  and  in 
1790  steam  was  first  utilized  in  this  connection  as  a  motor 
force.  By  these  improvements  the  output  of  a  furnace  was 
quintupled.  At  last,  in  1784,  Cort  discovered  a  process, 
known  as  "puddling,"  by  which  malleable  iron  could  be 
made  with  coal  quite  as  satisfactorily  as  with  charcoal.1 
This  discovery,  together  with  the  substitution  of  rollers  for 
the  hammer,  revolutionized  the  malleable  industry  as  com- 
pletely as  the  use  of  coke  and  coal  had  revolutionized  the 
production  of  pig-iron.  In  1789  Cort's  patent  was  annulled 
and  the  puddling  process  was  made  available  for  iron-workers 
everywhere.  Between  1770  and  1790  the  price  of  iron  im- 
ported from  Sweden  was  increased  by  upwards  of  a  third, 
by  which  fact  the  production  of  iron  in  Great  Britain  was 
further  stimulated.  By  the  close  of  the  century  gigantic 
iron-works  were  springing  up  throughout  the  northern  coun- 
ties, and  by  1815  the  kingdom,  far  from  importing  iron,  was 
exporting  91,000  tons  a  year.  The  supply  of  machinery  was 
limited  only  by  the  demand;  while  for  the  operating  of 
machinery  in  factories  and  mills  there  were  at  hand  supplies 
of  coal  which  were  seemingly  inexhaustible. 

1  The  essential  aspect  of  the  process  is  the  purification  of  the  raw  iron  through 
the  injection  of  oxygen. 


92  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

Thus  were  brought  together,  from  diverse  sources  and  by 
men  often  who,  like  Cort,  derived  no  pecuniary  advantage 
from  their  labors  and  ideas,  all  of  the  elements  which  are 
necessarily  involved  in  the  operation  of  modern  industry : 
devices  for  speed  and  technique  of  manufacture;  materials 
for  the  production  of  the  requisite  machinery;  abundant 
fuel  for  the  generation  of  power;  and,  finally,  through  the 
employment  of  steam,  unlimited  possibilities  for  the  increase 
and  adaptation  of  that  power.  The  result  was  the  rise  of  the 
factory  system.  It  is  true  that  factories  in  England  far 
antedate  the  eighteenth  century.  The  first  of  which  mention 
is  made  existed  as  early  as  the  days  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  one 
of  the  interesting,  though  minor,  phases  of  English  economic 
history  is  the  development  of  these  pre-revolutionary  manu- 
facturing establishments.  Not  until  the  later  eighteenth 
century,  however  (perhaps  better,  the  early  nineteenth) ,  can 
there  be  said  to  have  been  in  England  a  factory  system. 
"What  the  great  inventions  did  for  the  factory,"  says  one 
writer,  "was  to  change  the  relation  of  hand  work  to  mechani- 
cal assistance.  The  tool  and  the  machine  tool  are  under  the 
government  of  the  hand.  It  is  the  worker  who  supplies  the 
force  and  the  tool  which  obeys ;  but  after  the  great  inventions 
the  position  of  the  worker  in  the  modern  factory  came  to  be 
that  of  assisting  the  machine  rather  than  that  of  supplying 
the  energy  to  the  hand  or  machine  tool.  There  were  factories 
before  the  inventions  of  Watt  and  Crompton  and  Cort,  but 
the  'factory  system'  of  the  nineteenth  century  implies  spe- 
cially a  subordination  of  the  worker  to  the  machine,  which 
justifies  us,  if  we  look  at  the  change  over  a  long  period,  in 
speaking  of  the  effect  as  a  revolution."  1  The  factory  grew 
up  alongside  the  domestic  system  of  industry,  and,  in  truth, 
the  one  never  wholly  displaced  the  other.  To  this  day  there 
are  communities  in  England  in  which  the  processes  of  manu- 
facture are  carried  on  extensively  under  the  forms  of  the  old 

1  Macgregor,  "The  Evolution  of  Industry,"  40. 


THE   INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  IN  ENGLAND       93 

domestic  system.  A  familiar  instance  is  the  manufacture 
of  small  articles  of  hardware  in  the  villages  that  cluster  about 
Birmingham.  The  domestic  system,  however,  has  quite 
lost  its  hold  upon  the  nation,  and  the  emphasis  of  nineteenth 
and  twentieth  century  industrialism  is  distinctly  upon  the 
factory. 

The  fundamental  feature  of  the  factory  system  is  the 
bringing  together  of  large  numbers  of  wage-earning  workmen 
in  capitalist-owned  establishments  where  more  or  less  costly 
and  elaborate  machinery  is  operated  by  water  or  steam  power. 
Why  the  invention  and  improvement  of  spinning  and  weaving 
apparatus,  for  example,  should  have  induced  the  growth  of 
textile  factories  requires  but  a  word  of  explanation.  In  the 
first  place,  the  new  machines  were,  as  a  rule,  too  expensive 
to  be  bought  and  used  by  the  cottage  workman.  The  old 
spinning-wheel  and  hand-loom  had  been  so  simple  in  con- 
struction, so  easily  repaired,  and  so  easily  obtained  that  no 
laborer  need  be  embarrassed  by  the  cost  of  the  tools  of  his 
trade.  Crompton's  "mule"  and  Cartwright's  power-loom, 
however,  were  costly,  even  in  their  rudimentary  forms,  and 
for  the  first  time  in  English  history  capital  became  a  requisite 
in  textile  manufacture.  In  the  second  place,  it  was  all  but 
impossible  to  operate  the  new  appliances  within  the  home. 
The  machines  were  large,  heavy-running,  and  built  for  great 
output.  They  called  for  the  application  of  water-power  or, 
better  still,  of  steam.  The  former  could  be  had  only  in  cer- 
tain localities,  and  the  latter  entailed  the  purchase  of  expen- 
sive machinery  in  addition  to  that  employed  directly  in  manu- 
facture. Where  either  sort  of  power  was  utilized  at  all,  there 
was  certain  to  be  enough  of  it  to  run  many  machines,  af- 
fording employment  for  numbers  of  workmen.  Such  an 
enlargement  of  the  scale  of  industry  within  the  home  was 
obviously  impracticable.  The  consequence  was  that  the  cot- 
tager abandoned  home  manufacture  and  became  an  employe 
in  some  centralized  establishment  where  bodies  of  laborers 


94      SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

worked  regular  hours  under  the  control  of  their  employers 
in  buildings  in  which  the  requisite  machinery  was  set  up 
and  the  necessary  power  was  provided.  The  introduction  of 
machinery  and  of  power  rendered  it  a  matter  of  economy, 
furthermore,  to  concentrate  under  a  single  roof,  or  at  least 
in  a  single  establishment,  the  various  branches  of  an  industry. 
In  the  cotton  manufacture,  for  example,  there  was  no  reason 
why  the  carders  and  the  spinners,  or  the  spinners  and  the 
weavers,  should  not  carry  on  their  respective  processes 
within  close  reach  and  by  means  of  a  common  supply  of  power. 

Such,  then,  were  some  of  the  considerations  and  conditions 
which  underlay  the  factory  regime  as  it  developed,  first,  in 
the  manufacture  of  cottons,  then  in  that  of  woollens  and  of 
other  textiles,  and  ultimately  in  that  of  metal,  wooden,  leather, 
and  almost  every  other  kind  of  goods.  "The  typical  unit  of 
production,"  says  an  English  writer,  "comes  to  be  no  longer 
a  single  family  or  group  of  persons  working  with  a  few  cheap, 
simple  tools  upon  small  quantities  of  raw  material,  but  a 
compact  and  closely  organized  mass  of  labor  composed  of 
hundreds  or  thousands  of  individuals  cooperating  with  large 
quantities  of  expensive  and  intricate  machinery  through 
which  passes  a  continuous  and  mighty  volume  of  raw  material 
on  its  way  to  the  consuming  public."  This  new  unit  is  the 
nineteenth  century  factory. 

By  the  transformation  that  has  been  described  the  social 
condition  of  the  mass  of  the  English  people  was  profoundly 
modified.  Every  device  by  which  a  machine  was  made  to 
do  the  work  of  a  man,  or  of  a  score  of  men,  involved  a  dis- 
location of  industry  and  the  throwing  of  numbers  of  people 
out  of  employment.  Although  there  are  those  who  main- 
tain the  contrary,  it  may  be  assumed  that  in  the  long  run  the 
introduction  of  machinery  enlarged  the  sphere  of  labor  and 
tended  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  laborer.  But  at  the 
time  virtually  every  invention  of  importance  brought  down 
upon  the  head  of  the  inventor  the  maledictions  of  the  laboring 


THE   INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  IN  ENGLAND       95 

masses.  Hargreaves  met  with  mob  violence  and  was  com- 
pelled to  remove  to  Nottinghamshire  in  quest  of  an  oppor- 
tunity to  set  up  in  safety  his  spinning-jenny.  In  1779  there 
was  a  series  of  outbreaks  in  Lancashire  in  the  course  of  which 
machines  of  various  sorts  were  broken  in  pieces  by  the  angry 
populace,  and  scores  of  similar  demonstrations  in  all  portions 
of  the  country  might  be  cited.  But  the  trend  toward  the 
substitution  of  machine  for  hand  labor  was  too  strong  to  be 
stayed  by  men  who  had  no  resource  but  violence.  Slowly 
and  painfully  the  laboring  population  of  the  kingdom  re- 
signed itself  to  the  inevitable. 

The  most  striking  aspect  of  this  adaptation  was  a  general 
shifting  of  population,  first,  from  the  southern  to  the  north- 
ern counties  and,  second,  from  the  rural  districts  to  the  towns. 
The  migration  to  the  more  sparsely  populated  north  began  be- 
fore the  revolution  was  far  advanced,  and,  indeed  somewhat 
independently ;  but  the  stimulus  which  was  responsible  for  the 
enormous  proportions  it  assumed  was  imparted  very  clearly 
by  the  industrial  change.  It  was  in  the  north  that  there  lay 
those  remarkable  deposits  of  coal  and  iron  whose  utilization, 
as  has  appeared,  was  essential  to  large-scale  industrial  devel- 
opment ;  and  by  this  consideration  was  determined  princi- 
pally the  location  of  the  new  factories  and  mills.  From  all 
portions  of  the  country  working  people  flocked  to  the  cities 
(many  of  them  essentially  new  foundations)  of  Yorkshire, 
Nottinghamshire,  Lancashire,  and  Derbyshire,  and  these 
cities,  notably  Leeds,  Manchester,  Sheffield,  Liverpool,  Bir- 
mingham, Glasgow,  and  Newcastle,  became  now  the  most 
populous  and  flourishing,  with  the  exception  of  London, 
in  all  England.  In  these  centres  were  set  up  mills  about 
which  people  who  had  abandoned  their  rural  homes  gathered 
by  hundreds  of  thousands  in  quest  of  work  and  wages. 
Cottagers  who  with  their  families  had  been  accustomed  to 
eke  out  by  household  manufacture  a  scant  living  derived 
from  the  soil  found  to  their  dismay  that  they  were  able  neither 


96     SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

to  produce  goods  which  would  any  longer  command  a  market 
nor  to  provide  themselves  with  the  machinery  necessary 
for  the  production  of  such  goods.  They  were,  as  an  American 
writer  has  stated  it,  "devoting  themselves  to  two  inferior 
forms  of  industry."  *  In  so  far  as  they  were  handicraftsmen, 
they  were  competing  with  a  vastly  cheaper  and  better  form  of 
manufacture ;  in  so  far  as  they  were  tillers  of  the  soil,  they 
were  doing  the  same  thing  in  the  domain  of  agriculture. 
Under  these  circumstances  their  one  resource  was  to  abandon 
their  homes,  yield  their  heritage  of  economic  independence, 
and  become  either  employes  in  the  new  factory  towns  or  non- 
landholding  agricultural  laborers.  Many  did  the  one  thing, 
many  the  other. 

The  consequences  of  the  changed  conditions  of  industry 
were  neither  immediately  nor  ultimately  altogether  whole- 
some. For  one  thing,  the  development  of  the  factory  sys- 
tem produced  for  the  first  time  in  industrial  history  a  thor- 
oughgoing differentiation  of  capital  and  labor.  The  guilds- 
man  of  mediaeval  and  earlier  modern  days  was  at  the  same 
time  an  employer  and  a  laborer.  He  gave  employment  to 
journeymen  and  apprentices,  but  he  worked  along  with  his 
employes,  and  in  his  interests  and  daily  life  he  had  much 
in  common  with  them.  The  same  thing  was  true  of  the  rela- 
tion existing  between  the  domestic  manufacturer  and  the 
little  group  by  which  he  was  assisted.  Under  the  factory 
system,  however,  the  line  was  sharply  drawn  between  the 
employer  and  the  employed.  The  one  owned  the  buildings 
in  which  manufacture  was  carried  on  and  the  machinery 
used;  the  other  merely  worked  for  wages.  Under  these 
conditions  the  interests  of  the  two  tended  to  grow  apart, 
and  to  become  at  times  irreconcilable.  Superabundance  of 
workmen  meant  inevitably  low  wages  and  long  hours,  and 
opportunity  to  rise  from  the  laboring  to  the  employing  class 
was  virtually  non-existent. 

1  Cheyney,  "Industrial  and  Social  History  of  England,"  221. 


THE   INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION   IN  ENGLAND       97 

Another  effect  of  the  new  system  was  to  throw  upon  women 
and  children  an  unprecedented  industrial  burden.  Machines 
imposed  a  discount  upon  muscle  and  skill.  In  consequence 
of  the  inventions,  particularly  those  applicable  to  the  textile 
industries,  it  became  possible  for  women  and  children  to  do 
much  of  the  work  that  formerly  had  fallen  to  men ;  and  since 
the  labor  of  women  and  children  could  generally  be  had  at 
less  cost  than  that  of  men,  the  tendency  was  for  men  in  large 
numbers  to  be  thrown  out  of  employment  entirely.  It  came 
about  that  not  infrequently  the  normal  relations  of  the  home 
were  reversed,  wives  and  children  becoming  breadwinners, 
while  grown  men  vainly  sought  employment  or  sank  into 
contented  idleness.  Under  the  domestic  system,  as  has 
appeared,  women  and  children  performed  no  inconsiderable 
share  of  the  work  done  in  the  home,  and  we  are  not  to  sup- 
pose that  the  idyllic  conditions  described  by  Goldsmith  in 
his  lament  upon  the  social  transformations  of  his  day  x  were 
really  very  common.  None  the  less,  it  is  incontestable  that 
the  entering  of  the  factory  meant  as  a  rule  no  improvement, 
but  distinctly  the  reverse,  for  both  woman  and  child.2 

The  most  lamentable  aspect,  indeed,  of  the  new  regime  was 
the  physical  and  moral  disadvantages  to  which  the  working 
classes  under  it  were  almost  inevitably  subjected.  During  the 
first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  conditions  of  labor  and  of 
living  became  in  many  parts  of  England  the  worst  the  kingdom 
had  ever  known.  Men,  women,  and  children  were  thrown  to- 
gether in  great  establishments  with  few  facilities  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  health  and  comfort  and  none  whatever  for  the 

1In  "The  Deserted  Village,"  published  in  1770. 

2  From  the  point  of  view  of  womenkind  generally  there  is,  of  course,  this 
fact  on  the  other  side,  namely,  that  as  a  result  of  factory  development  "thou- 
sands of  women  belonging  to  the  more  fortunate  classes  have  been  relieved  of 
many  of  the  duties  which  devolved  upon  the  housewife  in  the  eighteenth  century 
when  many  things  were  made  at  home  which  can  now  be  better  and  more  cheaply 
produced  on  a  large  scale."  Robinson  and  Beard,  "Development  of  Modern 
Europe,"  II.,  48. 
H 


98     SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

exercise  of  moral  control.  Not  all  factory  owners  were  men 
of  an  avaricious  and  morally  indifferent  character,  but  the 
proportion  was  beyond  a  doubt  larger  than  it  is  to-day. 
Such  was  the  zest  attending  the  operation  of  the  first  great 
factories  that  small  regard  was  apt  to  be  paid  to  the  welfare 
of  employes.  Fifteen,  and  even  eighteen,  hours  became  a  not 
uncommon  working-day.  Unwholesome  as  conditions  were 
apt  to  be  in  the  factory,  the  state  of  the  working  peoples' 
homes  was  often  worse.  Whereas  formerly  the  mass  of 
laborers  had  lived  in  humble  but  not  unhealthful  country 
dwellings  and  had  worked  largely  in  family  groups,  now  they 
were  gathered  in  congested  districts  in  the  great  mill  centres 
where  housing  accommodations  were  much  of  the  time  hope- 
lessly inadequate.  As  late  as  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria 
it  appears  that  not  less  than  one-tenth  of  the  population  of 
the  great  city  of  Manchester  lived  in  cellars,  which  reeked 
commonly  with  filth  and  bred  perennial  pestilence.  Com- 
pared with  the  lot  of  the  English  factory  workman  of 
seventy  years  ago,  that  of  the  American  negro  slave  in  the 
same  period  was  in  many  respects  preferable.  The  slave 
had  at  least  an  abundance  of  fresh  air,  substantial  food,  and 
hours  for  rest  and  recreation.  The  factory  employe  had 
none  of  these.  Even  the  forms  of  slavery  did  not  lack  par- 
allels in  the  traffic  in  orphans  and  pauper  children  by  which 
the  operators  contrived,  in  connivance  with  the  parish 
authorities,  to  keep  up  the  supply  of  cheap  labor  for  their 
establishments. 

The  unfortunate  developments  that  have  been  mentioned 
represent,  of  course,  but  one  side  of  the  case.  It  is  not  to  be 
forgotten  that  the  rise  of  the  factory  system  contributed 
enormously  to  the  increase  of  the  national  wealth  and  pro- 
vided employment,  though  ill-adjusted,  for  masses  of  people 
who  were  losing  their  grip  upon  the  soil.  It  is  a  fact,  too, 
that  the  growth  of  the  northern  industrial  populations  had 
more  to  do  than  any  other  one  thing  with  the  triumph  in 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION  IN   ENGLAND       99 

England  during  the  nineteenth  century  of  the  essential 
principles  of  democratic  government.  Finally,  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  the  untoward  conditions  which  were  fostered 
by  the  factory  were  not  allowed  to  be  prolonged  indefinitely 
without  the  making  of  determined  and  at  least  partially  suc- 
cessful attempt  at  their  remedy.  In  subsequent  chapters 
some  note  will  be  taken  of  the  efforts  put  forth  in  this  direc- 
tion through  (1)  the  intervention  of  the  state  in  the  laborer's 
behalf  and  (2)  the  organization  of  the  laboring  elements  for 
their  own  protection.1 

1  Chapters  XV  and  XIX. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT 

A  principle  which  was  woven  deeply  into  the  American 
national  system  at  its  beginning  is  that  of  full  and  free  indus- 
trial opportunity.  For  an  American,  therefore,  it  is  difficult 
to  conceive  how  completely  the  agriculture,  the  manufac- 
tures, and  the  trade  of  France,  Germany,  and  other  conti- 
nental European  countries  were  shackled  but  four  or  five 
generations  ago  by  status,  by  custom,  and  by  contractual 
arrangements.  The  guild,  the  manor,  the  state,  and  even 
the  Church,  imposed  each  its  peculiar  restrictions,  and  the 
industrial  status  and  prospect  of  the  individual  were  deter- 
mined quite  as  largely  by  agencies  beyond  his  power  to  con- 
trol as  by  his  own  habits  of  enterprise  and  thrift.  It  is  only 
within  decades  comparatively  recent  that  the  mass  of  men 
in  Europe  have  acquired  substantial  freedom  of  industrial 
initiative  and  achievement.  If  the  key-note  of  the  economic 
history  of  the  United  States  since  1789  has  been  expansion,  that 
of  the  economic  development  of  continental  Europe  during 
the  same  period  has  been  liberation.  Speaking  broadly,  one 
may  say  that  the  first  great  advance  in  the  direction  of  libera- 
tion was  accomplished  by  the  Revolution  in  France  in  1789- 
94;  that  a  second  was  realized  under  Napoleon,  though 
accompanied  by  a  certain  amount  of  retrogression;  that 
the  period  1815-45  witnessed  small  progress,  except  on  the 
side  of  industrial  technique;  but  that  after  1845-50  the 
triumph  of  the  liberalizing  principle  was  rapid  and  thorough- 
going. The  transformations  by  means  of  which  liberation 
has  been  wrought  took  place  within  all  of  the  three  principal 
fields  of  economic  activity,  —  agriculture,  manufacturing,  and 
trade;  and  in  any  attempt  to  measure  the  progress  of  the 

100 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   ioi 

average  man  during  the  period  in  hand  the  nature  and  extent 
of  the  changes  in  these  three  fields  must  continually  be  taken 
into  account.  A  few  facts  may  here  be  set  down  with  respect 
to  each  of  the  three,  in  the  order  named. 

Since  1789  the  acreage  of  land  cultivated  in  most  continen- 
tal countries  has  been  enormously  extended  and  new  appli- 
ances and  methods  have  been  introduced,  with  the  result 
of  an  increase  that  is  remarkable  in  the  yield  both  of  food- 
stuffs and  of  materials  for  manufacture.  Even  more  impor- 
tant, however,  has  been  the  sweeping  readjustment  of  the 
position  occupied  by  the  tillers  of  the  soil  themselves.  Eman- 
cipated from  oppressive  dues  and  services  to  landlord  and 
state,  and  enabled  to  acquire  land  of  their  own,  the  rural 
inhabitants  of  almost  every  continental  country  have  been 
brought  up  to  a  status  vastly  superior  to  that  which  their 
ancestors  occupied  a  century  and  a  half  ago.  The  first  na- 
tion within  which  the  agricultural  liberation  took  place  was 
France.  As  has  been  indicated,  one  of  the  earliest  decisive 
achievements  of  the  Revolution  in  France  was  the  abolition 
of  all  survivals  of  feudalism  and  serfdom;  and  this  reform 
was  accompanied  by  the  conversion  of  numerous  tenants, 
dependent  cultivators,  and  ordinary  laborers  into  independ- 
ent, self-sustaining  landholders.  It  used  to  be  supposed  that 
the  multiplicity  of  little  proprietorships  which  lends  distinc- 
tion to  France  to-day  was  wholly  a  consequence  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Research  has  shown  that  this  is  not  true  —  that,  in 
fact,  the  breaking  up  of  the  agricultural  lands  of  France  into 
petty  holdings  was  already  under  way  long  before  1789. 
Some  students  of  the  subject  have  gone  so  far  as  to  maintain, 
indeed,  that  the  number  of  landed  proprietorships  in  France 
was  scarcely  smaller  prior  to  1789  than  it  is  to-day.1  There 
can  be  no  question,  however,  that  during  the  Revolution  the 
growth  of  little  holdings  was  greatly  accelerated,  notably 

1  Notably  the  Russian  scholar  Loutchisky.  See  Johnson,  "The  Disappear* 
ance  of  the  Small  Landowner,"  155. 


102    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

through  the  sale  of  estates  confiscated  from  the  crown,  the 
nobility,  and  the  Church;  nor  that  the  general  effect  of  the 
Revolution  was  to  enhance  the  agricultural  prosperity  of 
France. 

Between  1789  and  1848  the  production  of  wheat  rose  from 
93,000,000  bushels  to  152,000,000;  that  of  potatoes  from 
5,000,000  bushels  to  275,000,000;  that  of  wine  from  374,- 
000,000  gallons  to  924,000,000.  In  1865,  when  the  total 
population  was  somewhat  under  37,000,000,  nearly  20,000,000 
people  lived  entirely  by  agriculture.  In  1862  upwards  of 
57  per  cent  of  all  landhol dings  did  not  exceed  five  hectares 
(a  little  less  than  12^  acres),  and  about  87  per  cent  did  not 
exceed  twenty.  In  proportion  of  small  holdings  France 
was  exceeded  only  by  Belgium,  whose  percentage  of  pro- 
prietorships under  five  hectares  was  approximately  86. 
After  1848  the  reclaiming  of  waste  land  set  in  upon  a  large 
scale,  and  likewise  the  introduction  of  agricultural  machinery. 
An  English  observer  relates  that  in  1840  it  was  quite  common 
to  see  horses  used  for  treading  out  grain,  but  an  official  report 
of  1862  showed  that  France  then  possessed  more  than  100,000 
threshing-machines,  nearly  3000  of  which  were  operated 
by  steam.  Between  181 8  and  1889  the  average  yield  of 
wheat  per  acre  was  raised  from  11  bushels  to  17I;  between 
1825  and  1875  that  of  barley  was  increased  by  8  bushels, 
and  that  of  oats  by  10.  Between  181 2  and  1888  the  number 
of  cattle  kept  was  more  than  doubled.  Throughout  modern 
times  France  has  been  preeminently  an  agricultural  country, 
and  to  this  day  the  nation's  enormous  wealth  is  derived 
principally  from  the  products  of  the  soil  rather  than  from 
manufactures  and  trade.  Nearly  one-half  of  the  population 
of  the  republic  to-day  is  employed  upon  the  land,  whereas 
in  England  and  Wales  the  proportion  is  but  one-tenth. 
No  business  has  come  to  be  better  understood  than  hus- 
bandry, and  the  nation  not  only  is  entirely  self-supporting 
in  the  matter  of  foodstuffs,  such  as  cereals,  meat,  and  dairy 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   103 

produce,  but  exports  these  articles  heavily  to  other  portions 
of  the  world.  The  great  mass  of  cultivators  are  proprietors 
of  little  estates  ranging  in  area  from  five  to  fifty  acres.  Three 
million  proprietors  occupy  holdings  of  less  than  twenty-five 
acres  apiece.     Of  waste  land  very  little  remains. 

In  considerable  portions  of  Germany  agricultural  advance 
in  the  earlier  nineteenth  century  followed  a  course  roughly 
analogous  to  that  observed  in  France,  although  the  remark- 
able expansion  in  Germany  since  1871  of  industry  and  ot 
trade  has  brought  that  nation  into  an  economic  position 
fundamentally  unlike  that  which  France  now  occupies. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  century  Germany  was  even  more 
purely  agricultural  than  was  France.  In  1804,  73  per  cent 
of  the  population  of  Prussia  was  rural,  and  throughout 
Germany  as  a  whole  the  proportion  of  the  population  engaged 
in  agriculture  was  not  less  than  80  per  cent.  The  natural 
resources  of  the  country  were  then,  as  they  are  now,  less 
favorable  for  agriculture  than  those  of  France,  and  agri- 
cultural methods  were  very  poorly  developed,  with  the 
consequence  that  the  product  was  inferior  and  agricultural 
wealth  meagre.  Advance  in  technique,  even  past  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  was  distinctly  slower 
than  in  France,  but  the  changes  wrought  in  the  status  of 
the  agricultural  laborer  were  in  no  small  measure  the  same. 
How  the  Napoleonic  era  became  in  Prussia  a  period  of 
economic  transformation,  involving  the  abolition  of  serfdom 
has  been  related  elsewhere.  Throughout  other  portions  of 
Germany  serfdom  had  all  but  disappeared  prior  to  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  serfs  having  obtained  their 
freedom  in  some  instances  by  purchase,  but  more  frequently 
through  the  simple  evaporation  by  imperceptible  degrees  of 
the  traditional  seigneurial  rights.  In  Bavaria  the  non-existence 
of  serfdom  was  recognized  officially  in  1808,  and  in  all  of  the 
remaining  states  the  same  tiling  took  place  by  1820. 

In  Germany,  as  in  France,  the  beginnings  of  petty  peasant 


104    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 


holdings  antedate  the  nineteenth  century,  but  by  the  rise 
of  the  agricultural  population  from  dependency  to  freedom 
the  tendency  toward  the  multiplication  of  these  holdings 
was  greatly  accentuated.  Just  as  in  France,  however,  the 
small-holding  idea  did  not  work  out  everywhere  alike,  so 
that  the  holdings  of  the  northwest  became,  on  the  average, 
considerably  larger  than  those  of  the  south,  so  in  Germany 
the  principle  was  very  variously  applied,  and,  in  truth,  in 
some  important  portions  of  the  country  was  not  applied  at 
all.  In  the  northeast,  beyond  the  Elbe,  the  same  thing 
happened  that  happened  in  the  England  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  namely,  the  concentration  of  land  in  estates  even 
larger  than  those  which  had  prevailed  in  earlier  days.  But 
in  both  the  northwest  and  southwest  the  number  of  holdings 
was  increased  and  their  average  size  decreased,  the  principal 
difference  being  that  in  the  north  the  holdings  were  as  a  rule 
larger  than  in  the  south.  In  the  northeast,  especially  in 
Mecklenburg  and  Silesia,  such  small  holders  as  there  were 
fell  pretty  generally,  by  1850,  to  the  status  of  landless  agri- 
cultural laborers,  and  their  holdings  were  absorbed  in  the 
large  estates,  the  consequence  being  that  sharp  differentia- 
tion of  landlords  and  rural  wage-earners  which  to  the  present 
day  has  comprised  one  of  the  principal  problems  of  the  east 
Prussian  provinces.1 

1  The  following  statistics,  drawn  from  the  German  industrial  census  of  1895, 
illustrate  the  status  of  landholding  in  three  typical  portions  of  the  Empire  at 
the  date  mentioned  —  Pomerania  (northeast),  Hanover  (northwest),  and  Baden 
(southwest) : 


Per  Cent  of  Total 

Holdings 

Hectares 

Pomerania 

Hanover 

Baden 

2.97 

344 
15.64 
22.82 
55-13 

6.61 
11.83 
32.01 
42.41 

7.14 

13.23 

29.04 

41.18 

12.56 

3.99 

ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   105 

Agricultural  development  in  Germany  during  the  course 
of  the  nineteenth  century  was  notably  inferior  to  that  which 
took  place  in  France,  and  the  state  of  German  agriculture 
to-day  is  by  no  means  wholly  satisfactory.     Between  18 16 
and  1887  the  acreage  under  tillage  was  increased  from  23,- 
000,000  to  44,000,000,  and  in  the  same  period  the  production 
of  grain  was  more  than  doubled.     The  three  decades  from 
1840  to  1870  were,  on  the  whole,  an  era  of  rural  prosperity, 
marked  by  an  increased  price  of  products  and  a  decreased 
cost  of  production,  arising  principally  from  the  introduction 
of  agricultural  machinery  and  of  scientific  methods  of  culti- 
vation.    About    1874-75,  however,  there  set  in,  as  at  the 
same  time  in  England,  a  pronounced  agricultural  depression, 
from  which  there  has  never  as  yet  been  any  considerable 
recovery.    The   fundamental   cause   of  depression,    as   also 
largely  in  England,  was  the  decline  in  the  price  of  agricultural 
products  arising  from  the  competition  of  American  grains 
and  meats.     Despite  tariffs  designed  to  counteract  competi- 
tion, the  price  of  wheat  and  of  rye  fell  between  1876  and  1898 
by  14  per  cent  and  that  of  barley  by  n.     Other  contributing 
causes,  however,  have  been  the  scarcity  and  irregularity  of 
labor,  the  necessity  of  paying  increased  wages,  the  heavy 
mortgages  which  to-day  encumber  half  of  the  agricultural 
land  of  the  country,  and  the  unbusinesslike  methods  which 
long  operated  to  impede  the  conduct  of  agricultural  opera- 
tions.    Through  the  spread  of  education  among  the  agrarian 
classes  and  the  establishment   of   cooperative  societies,   the 
state  of  agriculture  is  tending  somewhat  to  be  improved, 
but  it  is  still  by  no  means  favorable.     In  1900  only  47.6 
per  cent  of  the  area  of  the  country  was  under  cultivation, 
as  compared  with  upwards  of  80  per  cent  in  France.     In 
respect  to  foodstuffs  the  nation  is  not  self-sufficing,  and  there 
is  every  reason  to  suppose  that  its  dependence  upon  supplies 
obtained  from  the  outlying   world  will  tend   steadily  to  be 
increased.     Since    1900    the    importation    of    cereals    alone 


106    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

has  averaged  from  4,500,000  to  6,000,000  tons  a  year.  In 
view  of  the  remarkable  development  to-day  of  German 
manufactures  and  trade,  this  situation  is  not  so  serious  as 
it  otherwise  would  be.  But  it  is  a  fact  of  prime  importance 
in  the  economy  both  of  Germany  and  of  the  world  at  large. 
Peculiarly  unfortunate  is  the  incessant  strife  which  has  been 
engendered  between  the  protection-seeking  agrarian  inter- 
ests, represented  chiefly  by  the  great  proprietors  of  the  east 
Prussian  provinces,  and  the  industrial  and  popular  interests 
of  the  nation,  to  whom  tariffs  upon  foodstuffs  mean  only 
increased  cost  of  living  and  diminished  industrial  opportunity. 
A  third  continental  country  in  which  the  status  of  the 
agricultural  classes  underwent  important  change  in  the 
nineteenth  century  is  Russia.  The  population  of  Russia 
a  hundred  years  ago  consisted,  even  more  largely  than  it 
to-day  consists,  of  two  classes  —  the  nobility  and  the  peasan- 
try. A  middle  class  of  well-to-do  and  intelligent  bourgeoisie, 
such  as  comprises  the  backbone  of  many  western  nations, 
was  virtually  non-existent.  The  nobility  in  18 15  numbered 
some  140,000  families,  by  whom,  together  with  the  crown 
and  royal  princes,  nine-tenths  of  the  land  in  the  European 
portion  of  the  Empire  was  owned.  Of  the  peasantry,  the 
greater  part  were  serfs  who  lived  and  labored  upon  the 
estates  of  the  royal  family  and  of  the  nobles.  Their  condi- 
tion was  at  least  as  unfavorable  as  was  that  of  the  serfs  of 
Prussia  prior  to  1807,  and  was  distinctly  worse  than  that  of 
such  serfs  as  there  were  in  France  in  1789.  The  number 
of  serfs  upon  the  crown  domains  alone  in  1815  was  16,000,000. 
Each  great  estate,  as  a  rule,  was  divided  into  two  portions, 
one  of  which  was  reserved  for  the  immediate  use  of  the  owner, 
the  other  being  allotted  to  his  serfs.  The  serfs  lived  in  little 
village  communities,  known  as  mirs,  and  each  village  regu- 
lated the  cultivation  of  the  land  assigned  to  its  inhabit- 
ants, paying  the  proprietor  each  year  a  stipulated  sum  as 
a  collective  obligation  of  the  village  group.    The  serfs,  of 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE   CONTINENT        107 

course,  were  but  tenants,  and  their  only  means  of  livelihood 
was  such  product  of  their  bits  of  ground  as  remained  after 
the  dues  to  the  landlord  had  been  met.  As  was  true  of 
western  serfs,  they  were  subject  to  the  obligation  of  the 
corvee,  and  the  amount  of  time  they  were  bound  to  give  in 
labor  upon  the  lord's  demesne  rose  to  the  enormous  average 
of  three  days  a  week.  The  landlord,  furthermore,  possessed 
powers  of  discipline  and  punishment  which,  though  nominally 
regulated  by  law,  were  in  practice  absolute.  No  serf  might 
leave  the  estate  upon  which  he  was  born,  and  when  the 
estate  was  sold  or  otherwise  alienated,  he  passed  with  it  to 
the  new  proprietor. 

That  the  problem  created  by  the  unhappy  lot  of  the  serfs 
was  one  of  great  seriousness  was  recognized  in  high  quarters 
even  before  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  At  the  close 
of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  Tsar  Alexander  I.  (1801-1825),  as 
yet  inclined  to  liberal-mindedness,  gave  the  subject  much 
thought  and  even  projected  schemes  for  emancipation. 
But  the  magnitude  of  the  task  and  the  sovereign's  waver- 
ing disposition  prevented  the  taking  of  any  positive  steps. 
His  successor,  Nicholas  I.  (1825-55),  was  a  reactionary  of 
the  most  thoroughgoing  type,  yet  even  he  was  frank  to 
admit  that  serfdom  as  it  existed  throughout  the  Empire  was 
both  indefensible  and  inimical  to  the  national  interests. 
"I  do  not  understand,"  he  at  one  time  declared,  "how  man 
came  to  be  a  thing,  and  I  can  explain  the  fact  only  by  decep- 
tion on  one  side  and  ignorance  on  the  other.  We  must  make 
an  end  to  this.  It  is  better  we  should  give  up,  of  our  own 
account,  that  which  otherwise  might  be  wrested  from  us." 
But,  despite  the  fact  that  during  the  three  decades  of  the 
reign  no  fewer  than  six  commissions  were  appointed  to 
investigate  the  subject,  the  influence  of  the  landholding 
official  class  was  sufficient  to  dissuade  the  sovereign  from 
action. 

The  reign  of  the  "Tsar  Liberator,"  Alexander  II.  (1855- 


108    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

1881),  brought  results.  At  the  middle  of  the  century  the 
total  number  of  serfs  in  the  Empire  was  not  far  short  of 
40,000,000,  divided  approximately  equally  between  the 
estates  of  the  crown  and  those  of  the  nobility.  The  libera- 
tion of  the  crown  serfs  was  the  easier  part  of  the  problem. 
Their  position,  as  a  rule,  was  better  already  than  that  of 
the  serfs  on  the  estates  of  the  nobles,  and  all  that  was  neces- 
sary was  for  the  crown  to  grant  them  personal  freedom  and 
to  recognize  them  as  owners  of  the  parcels  of  ground  which 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  cultivate.  In  1859  this  change 
was  initiated,  and  thereafter  it  progressed  until  in  1866  the 
last  of  the  serfs  of  the  crown  had  been  accorded  independence. 
But  the  purposes  of  the  Tsar  extended  further  than  this. 
In  the  midst  of  reforms  of  the  press  laws,  the  judicial  system, 
local  government,  and  education  there  was  promulgated, 
March  3,  1861,1  a  decree  unsurpassed  in  importance  by  any 
liberating  measure  in  the  history  of  modern  Europe.  The 
edict  accomplished  the  emancipation  of  not  fewer  than 
23,000,000  people  attached  to  the  estates  of  the  nation's 
nobility. 

It  did,  however,  still  more.  The  Tsar  understood  that 
provision  must  be  made  whereby  the  personal  independence 
that  had  been  granted  might  be  safeguarded  and  some  real 
measure  of  economic  independence  might  be  attained.  He 
understood  this,  indeed,  considerably  more  clearly  than  a 
good  many  people  of  the  day  in  our  own  country  understood 
that  it  was  not  enough  merely  to  liberate  the  negro  from  the 
ownership  of  his  master.  Accordingly  there  was  included 
in  the  emancipation  edict  a  carefully  considered  provision 
in  accordance  with  which  personal  freedom  might  be  sup- 
plemented by  the  possession  of  land.  The  problem  was 
simplified  by  the  fact  that  almost  universally  the  serfs  lived, 
as  has  been  indicated,  in  villages,  each  family  having  a  cottage 
and  a  surrounding  plot  of  garden  land.  The  solution  hit 
1  February  19,  according  to  the  Russian  calendar. 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT        109 

upon  was  that,  after  a  portion  of  an  estate  should  have  been 
set  apart  to  be  retained  by  the  landlord,  the  peasants  should 
be  recognized  as  personal  owners  of  their  houses  and  garden 
plots,  and  the  remaining  lands  surrounding  the  village  should 
become  the  collective  property  of  the  village,  to  be  divided 
every  three  to  twelve  years  by  lot  among  the  village 
inhabitants.  Neither  the  privately  nor  the  collectively 
owned  property  was,  however,  to  be  bestowed  gratis.  For 
everything  that  was  taken  from  him  the  landlord  was  to 
be  compensated.  The  peasantry,  of  course,  had  no  means 
with  which  to  pay,  so  that  there  was  instituted  an  arrange- 
ment whereby  the  requisite  funds  were  to  be  supplied  by 
the  state  and  the  loan  was  to  be  repaid  by  the  peasants  in 
instalments  covering  a  period  of  forty-nine  years. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  settlement  thus  effected 
produced  results  which  were  altogether  happy,  or  even  that, 
taken  all  in  all,  it  can  be  adjudged  a  success.  The  moral 
advantage  of  the  emancipation  is  beyond  question,  but  the 
economic  gain  involved  has  proved  somewhat  illusory. 
The  peasant  was  relieved  from  obligation  to  the  landlord, 
but  for  this  was  substituted  an  almost  equally  galling  obliga- 
tion, through  the  mir,  to  the  state.  Upon  the  mir  was 
imposed  the  task  of  reimbursing  the  Imperial  treasury  for 
funds  advanced,  and  to  fulfil  the  task  meant  inevitably  to 
regulate  closely  and  to  tax  unsparingly  the  economic  activ- 
ities of  the  villager.  Even  the  newly  won  freedom  of  the 
individual  to  go  where  he  liked  proved  unsubstantial,  be- 
cause to  prevent  the  depopulation  of  heavily  indebted  mirs, 
and  hence  the  repudiation  of  their  obligations,  it  was  deemed 
necessary  to  restrict  the  liberty  of  migration  very  nearly  as 
rigidly  as  previously  it  had  been.  The  peasant  became,  for 
all  practical  purposes,  the  "serf  of  the  state."  By  reason 
of  the  generosity  exhibited  by  the  government  toward  the 
great  proprietors,  the  readjustment,  curiously  enough,  left 
the  peasantry  with  less  land  than  formerly  it  had  been  ac- 


HO  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

customed  to  receive  in  allotments  from  the  nobles ;  and  Math 
the  growth  of  population  and  successive  re-divisions  of  the 
soil  it  has  come  about  that  in  our  day  the  peasant  has  at 
his  disposal,  on  an  average,  not  more  than  half  as  much 
land  as  was  assigned  to  him  under  the  old  regime.  Failure 
of  crops  and  the  prevalence  of  poverty  operated  constantly 
to  throw  the  mirs  in  arrears,  and  in  1904  Nicholas  II.  was 
obliged  to  cancel  heavy  arrearages  which,  indeed,  were 
certain  in  any  case  never  to  be  paid.  By  the  emancipation 
there  was  some  real  gain  in  personal  status,  and  the  scope 
of  local  autonomy  was  considerably  broadened;  but  the 
land  question,  far  from  being  settled,  was  but  given  a  new 
and  in  some  regards  more  serious  aspect.  Not  until  very 
recently  has  substantial  effort  been  made  toward  an  ultimate 
solution  of  this  problem.  In  1909  the  Third  Duma  enacted, 
at  the  behest  of  the  government,  an  agrarian  law  under 
whose  operation  it  is  intended  that  the  village  community 
as  constituted  in  1861  shall  be  broken  up  and  collective 
ownership  of  land  by  the  peasantry  shall  be  replaced  entirely 
by  individual  proprietorship.  The  consequences  of  this 
measure,  and  even  the  probability  of  its  execution,  cannot 
as  yet  be  foretold. 

Within  the  domain  of  industry  the  principal  changes 
wrought  in  continental  countries  during  the  nineteenth 
century  were  (1)  the  abolition,  or  re-adaptation,  of  the 
guild  and  (2)  the  growth  of  the  use  of  machinery  and  the 
rise  of  the  factory  system.  One  of  the  questions  that  most 
perplexed  the  French  National  Assembly  of  1789-91  was 
that  of  the  disposition  of  the  guilds.  There  is  abundant 
evidence  that  the  guild  system  in  France  had  broken  down 
in  some  measure  during  the  eighteenth  century  and  that 
guild  regulations,  even  in  the  capital,  were  not  infrequently 
evaded.  None  the  less,  every  important  branch  of  labor 
was  organized  and  controlled  in  accordance  with  the  guild 
principle,  and  monopoly  rather  than  freedom  was  the  normal 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   m 

industrial  condition.  From  domestic  workmen  in  the  coun- 
try districts  and  the  suburbs  of  the  towns  arose  insistent 
demand  that  the  guild  system  be  abolished  absolutely, 
while  from  the  towns  themselves,  in  which  sentiment  was 
inspired  by  the  guildsmen,  came  vigorous  defence  of  the 
system.  In  1791  the  Assembly  enacted  an  important 
measure  in  accordance  with  which  every  individual  was 
made  free  to  exercise  any  craft  or  profession  whatsoever, 
provided  only  he  equip  himself  with  the  requisite  license 
or  patent  of  the  public  authorities  and  engage  to  comply 
with  the  police  regulations,  one  of  which  in  effect  prohibited 
all  combinations  of  workingmen.  The  guilds  were  not  thus 
abolished,  but  their  monopoly  of  industry  was  effectually 
terminated.  During  the  era  of  Napoleon  the  industrial 
freedom  conferred  by  the  act  of  1791  was  infringed  at  a 
number  of  points  and,  with  the  ostensible  purpose  of  regulat- 
ing prices  and  the  quality  of  goods  and  of  safeguarding  in- 
dustrial peace,  the  monopolistic  guild  was  in  part  reestab- 
lished. To  facilitate  the  control  of  the  press  the  printing 
trade  was  subjected  once  more  to  guild  restrictions.  In 
1801  the  guild  of  bakers  was  revived,  and  likewise  that  of 
butchers.  The  guild  system  as  a  whole,  however,  never 
again  took  root  in  France,  and  it  was  no  part  of  the  plan  of 
Napoleon  that  it  should  do  so.  After  181 5  the  majority 
of  trades  were  open  to  all,  though  some  guilds  persisted  until 
well  past  the  middle  of  the  century.  The  butchers'  guild, 
for  example,  came  to  an  end  only  in  1858,  the  bakers'  in  1863, 
and  the  printers'  in  1870. 

In  Germany  the  later  phases  of  guild  history  paralleled 
with  some  closeness  those  that  have  been  described  in  France. 
From  the  fifteenth  century  onwards  there  was  complaint  of 
the  fossilizing  tendencies  of  the  guild,  but  efforts  both  of  the 
shadowy  Imperial  power  and  of  the  territorial  authorities  to 
remedy  the  evils  of  the  institution  proved  totally  unavailing. 
The  general  overturn,  however,  which  came  in  Prussia  at 


112    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  close  of  the  first  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
made  the  occasion  of  breaking  the  hold  which  the  guild  had 
acquired.  Instructions  of  1808,  an  edict  of  1810,  and  a  stat- 
ute of  181 1  introduced  in  Prussia  the  essentials  of  the  license 
system  inaugurated  in  France  twenty  years  before.  The 
guilds  were  not  abolished,  but  their  monopolies  and  other 
privileges  were  swept  away,  and  with  them  the  ultimate 
reasons  for  their  existence.  Many  guilds  disbanded  entirely, 
though  some  continued  as  "free  associations."  In  non- 
Prussian  portions  of  Germany,  alco,  as  in  Italy,  Belgium, 
and  other  countries  which  fell  under  French  control,  the 
French  system  was  very  generally  put  in  operation.  With 
the  collapse  of  the  Napoleonic  regime  the  new  industrial 
order  was  in  part  revoked,  but  almost  invariably  it  left  be- 
hind important  traces  of  the  liberation  that  had  taken  place, 
and  in  some  quarters,  as  in  Westphalia,  it  persisted  almost 
unimpaired.  Prussia,  after  the  annexations  sanctioned  by 
the  Congress  of  Vienna,  found  within  her  borders  a  multitude 
of  inconsistent  systems.  Following  prolonged  deliberation, 
there  was  enacted  in  1845  an  elaborate  law  designed  to  retain 
some  of  the  supposed  advantages  of  the  guild  system,  yet  to 
extend  throughout  the  whole  of  the  kingdom  a  liberal  measure 
of  industrial  freedom.  A  commercial  panic  of  1846-47, 
followed  by  the  revolution  of  1848,  frustrated  the  successful 
operation  of  the  law,  and  a  congress  of  handicraft  workmen 
in  1848  demanded,  in  part  as  a  check  upon  the  rising  factory 
system,  the  virtual  reestablishment  of  the  ancient  guild 
monopolies.  The  demand  was  met  by  a  measure  enacted 
within  the  same  year,  by  whose  terms  the  industrial  liberties 
conferred  by  the  act  of  1845  were  sharply  curtailed.  But  for 
the  fact  that  the  new  law  was  very  indifferently  enforced,  the 
progress  of  German  industry  might  have  been  much  impeded 
by  the  seeming  triumph  of  the  reactionary  forces.  Through- 
out the  German  states  generally  there  was  little  further 
liberalizing  legislation  prior  to  i860.    After  that  date,  how- 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   113 

ever,  the  surviving  vestiges  of  the  guild  regime  were  fast 
swept  away;  and  finally,  in  1869,  an  important  measure  of 
the  North  German  Federation  recognized  legally  throughout 
all  of  the  affiliated  states  a  status  of  industrial  liberty  which 
in  effect  had  come  already  to  be  very  generally  existent. 

The  breaking  down  of  the  guild  system  upon  the  continent 
was  accompanied,  and  in  a  measure  influenced,  by  the  trans- 
formation incident  to  what,  in  continental  countries  as  in 
England,  is  known  technically  as  the  industrial  revolution. 
Sooner  or  later  during  the  course  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
every  important  continental  state  was  reached  and  more  or 
less  profoundly  affected  by  those  industrial  changes  —  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery,  the  decay  of  the  domestic  system,  the 
rise  of  the  factory  —  by  which,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  the 
economic  complexion  of  England  between  1760  and  1825  was 
reconstituted.  It  will  be  sufficient  here  to  allude  briefly  to 
the  changes  that  came  in  three  countries  typical  of  the  various 
parts  of  the  European  world  —  France,  Germany,  and  Russia. 

The  first,  in  point  of  time,  to  be  affected,  was  France.  De- 
spite the  fact  that  the  commerce  of  France  increased  more 
rapidly  during  the  eighteenth  century  than  did  that  of  Eng- 
land and  at  the  close  of  the  century  surpassed  that  of 
England  in  volume,  France  not  only  failed  to  achieve  in  the 
eighteenth  century  that  revolutionizing  of  manufactures 
which  lent  distinction  to  England,  but  did  not  experience 
even  the  beginnings  of  the  transformation  until  the  following 
century  was  somewhat  advanced.  The  advantage  in  respect 
to  available  capital,  skilled  labor,  fuel  supply,  legal  freedom, 
and  stability  of  political  conditions  lay  wholly  with  England. 
The  first  cotton  mill,  it  is  true,  was  set  up  in  France  in  1785, 
and  during  the  Consulate  and  the  Empire  persistent  attempt 
was  made  to  extend  the  utilization  of  spinning  and  weaving 
machinery ;  but  much  the  larger  portion  of  textile  manufac- 
turing prior  to  1825  was  carried  on  under  the  ancient  handi- 
craft, domestic  system.     In  1834  there  were  only  5000  me- 


114    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

chanical  looms  in  all  France.  But  thereafter  advance  was 
rapid,  and  in  1846  the  number  was  31,000.  Similarly,  in  the 
metal  industries  there  was  some  attempt  at  modernization 
in  the  days  of  Napoleon,  but  the  first  rolled  iron  plates  were 
not  produced  in  France  until  1819,  and  it  was  only  after  1830 
that  coke-smelting,  puddling,  and  other  improvements  in 
iron  manufacture  were  widely  introduced.  In  1830  there 
were  in  the  country  29  blast  furnaces  employing  coke  and 
379  employing  charcoal.  Not  until  1864  did  the  number 
of  coke  furnaces  (220)  surpass  that  of  charcoal  (210).  In 
1 8 10  there  were  in  France  only  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  steam- 
engines,  all  employed  in  pumping.  In  1830  there  were  625 ; 
in  1839,  245°>  m  J85o,  5322;  in  i860,  14,513.  The  general 
application  of  steam-power  came  first  in  mining  and  in 
metal  works,  and  only  very  slowly  in  the  manufacture  of 
textiles. 

Against  the  introduction  of  machinery  substantially  the 
same  sort  of  protest  was  made  that  had  been  voiced  in 
England,  but  with  scarcely  more  effect.  After  1825-30 
the  transition  set  in  upon  an  extended  scale,  and  if  the 
French  industrial  revolution  can  be  dated  from  any  fairly 
specific  point,  the  years  mentioned  would  probably  be  as 
serviceable  as  any  that  could  be  indicated.  An  important 
factor  in  the  ushering  in  of  the  new  era  was  the  removal,  in 
1825,  of  the  prohibition  upon  the  export  of  machinery  from 
England,  with  the  result  that  French  manufacturers  after 
that  date  were  able  more  readily  to  obtain  mechanical 
appliances  from  England  and  to  copy  them  for  their  own  use. 
French  industry  tended  always,  and  does  to-day,  toward  the 
production  of  articles  of  luxury,  rather  than  of  cheap  and 
convenient  articles  for  mass  consumption,  but  the  results  of 
the  revolution  —  the  depression  of  handicraft  industry,  the 
lowering  of  wages,  the  cheapening  of  manufactured  commodi- 
ties, the  differentiation  of  capital  and  labor,  and  the  instiga- 
tion of  organization  on  the  part  of  the  laboring  classes  — 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   115 

followed  substantially  the  lines  already  marked  out  in  Eng< 
land. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  Third  Republic,  in  1870,  the 
advance  of  industry  has  been  enormous.  In  the  year  men- 
tioned the  aggregate  produce  of  French  industries,  including 
those  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  was  5,000,000,000  francs;  in  1897, 
exclusive  of  the  industries  of  Alsace,  it  was  15,000,000,000. 
In  textile  manufacturing  the  power-loom  has  replaced  entirely 
the  hand-loom  (save  in  the  weaving  of  samples  or  of  very 
small  orders),  and  the  power  employed  is  not  infrequently 
electricity.  Between  1890  and  1902  alone  the  number  of 
horse-power  employed  in  the  textile  industries  rose  from 
172,999  to  434,529.  In  1870  the  quantity  of  coal  mined  was 
13,000,000  tons;  in  1905  it  was  38,000,000.  Between  1891 
and  1906  the  number  of  steam-engines  employed  rose  from 
26,000,  with  316,000  horse-power,  to  79,000  with  2,232,000 
horse-power.  During  the  same  years  the  production  of  iron 
was  increased  by  71  per  cent  in  quantity  and  73  per  cent  in 
value.  In  1870  the  number  of  patents  granted  to  inventors 
was  2,782;    in  1905  it  was  12,953. 

An  important  factor  in  the  industrial  progress  of  France, 
as  in  that  of  all  other  countries,  has  been  the  development 
of  the  railroad.  The  first  French  railway  of  consequence 
was  an  English-built  line  from  Paris  to  Rouen,  opened  for 
traffic  in  1843.  Already,  in  1842,  there  had  been  projected 
a  scheme  of  railroad  construction,  the  principal  feature  of 
which  was  a  series  of  nine  trunk-lines  radiating  from  the 
capital  to  the  borders  of  the  country,  and  in  a  considerable 
measure  this  plan  was  subsequently  carried  into  effect. 
After  1850  construction  proceeded  with  fair  rapidity.  With 
the  aid  of  subventions  and  profit  guarantees  from  the  state, 
roads  were  built  as  a  rule  by  private  corporations,  although 
it  became  necessary  for  the  state  to  take  over  sooner  or 
later  a  large  body  of  lines.  By  1885  the  total  mileage  of  the 
country  was  18,650;  in  1904  it  was  24,755.     Within  recent 


Il6    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

years  a  definite  program  has  been  adopted  in  accordance 
with  which  all  of  the  great  privately  owned  and  managed 
systems  will  be  acquired  eventually  by  the  state.  The  most 
notable  step  taken  recently  in  this  direction  has  been  the 
acquisition,  under  law  of  July  13,  1908,  of  the  3690  miles  of 
tine  belonging  to  the  great  Western  Company. 

In  Germany  the  revolution  in  industry  came  approximately 
two  decades  later  than  in  France;  in  other  words,  it  began 
about  1845-50.  Its  lateness  is  to  be  explained  in  part  by  the 
innate  conservatism  of  the  mass  of  the  German  people,  but 
principally  by  the  lack  of  markets  for  German-made  goods. 
Want  of  colonies  and  inferiority  in  shipping  facilities  kept 
Germany  long  in  a  position  utterly  different  from  that 
occupied  by  Great  Britain,  and  even  that  occupied  by 
France.  In  the  textile  industry  the  transition  from  domestic 
to  factory  spinning  and  weaving  was  very  slow.  As  late  as 
1846  there  were  in  all  Prussia  only  136  cotton  mills,  the 
crude  machinery  in  which  was  operated  very  rarely  by  steam, 
generally  by  horse  or  water  power,  and  not  infrequently  by 
hand.  Improvements  which  in  England  were  common  in 
1830  were  but  being  introduced  in  Germany  in  i860.  In 
the  iron  industry  coke-smelting  was  barely  begun  prior  to 
1840,  and  in  1846,  of  the  more  than  300  furnaces  in  Upper 
Silesia,  in  only  nine  was  coke  employed.  In  1850  the  con- 
sumption of  pig-iron  was  but  10.6  kilograms  per  capita  of 
population,  as  compared  with  85  in  England  and  30  in  the 
United  States.  The  great  era  of  industrial  advance  was 
inaugurated  only  after  the  creation,  in  1871,  of  the  present 
Empire.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
foundations  of  the  new  order  were  laid  with  security  during 
the  quarter-century  following  the  revolution  of  1848.  Eng- 
lish machinery  was  at  this  time  imported,  and  in  some  in- 
stances improved  upon,  while  English  factory  workers  were 
attracted  by  high  wages  to  Silesia,  Saxony,  and  other  manu- 
facturing districts,  where  they  taught  the  German  workman 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   117 

how  to  compete  successfully  with  the  English  and  the  French. 
Especially  important  was  the  rise  in  this  period  of  the  capi- 
talistic system  of  production,  made  possible  by  the  extension 
of  market  areas  through  the  breaking  down  of  tariff  walls 
and  the  development  of  railways.  A  single  significant  fact 
which  may  be  cited  is  the  increase  in  the  annual  consumption 
of  raw  cotton  from  18,500,000  pounds  in  1836-40  to  97,565,- 
100  in  1861-65. 

The  progress  of  German  industry  since  187 1  is  one  of  the 
principal  economic  phenomena  of  modern  times.  Its  initial 
impetus  arose  from  the  final  unification  of  the  German  people 
in  the  Empire,  rendering  possible  for  the  first  time  in  Ger- 
man history  the  inauguration  of  a  vast,  coordinated,  national 
industrial  policy.  The  enormous  indemnity,  5,000,000,000 
francs,  received  from  France  supplied  ready  capital  for  indus- 
trial expansion,  and  the  highly  developed  industries  of  the 
conquered  provinces  of  Alsace-Lorraine  both  added  to  the 
new  Empire's  productivity  and  served  as  a  spur  to  kindred 
enterprise  within  the  older  German  territories.  The  peculiar 
shrewdness  and  adaptability  displayed  nowadays  by  the 
German  manufacturer  began  to  tell  in  the  competition  for 
markets,  and  the  entering  of  the  Empire,  during  the  eighties, 
upon  her  role  of  colonizer  and  world-power  had  a  further 
stimulating  effect.  The  remarkable  outburst  of  industrial 
enterprise  by  which  the  war  with  France  was  followed  cul- 
minated in  1874  in  a  gigantic  crash,  and  from  1874  to  about 
1890  the  nation  was  occupied  chiefly  in  recovering  equilib- 
rium and  in  building  more  solidly  the  foundations  of  its 
changed  economic  existence. 

After  1890,  however,  expansion  of  industry  set  in  once 
more  upon  an  enormous  scale,  and  with  the  final  triumph  of 
capitalism  and  of  concentration  in  manufacturing  and  trade 
the  old  Agrar-Staat,  as  the  Germans  call  it,  was  converted 
definitely  into  the  Industrie-Staat  of  the  present  day.  Be- 
tween   1887-89   and    1889-1900    the    average   yearly  con- 


Il8    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

sumption  of  raw  cotton  was  increased  from  410,000,000 
pounds  to  626,000,000;  and  in  value  of  cottons  produced, 
the  nation  already  in  1895  was  surpassed  only  by  the  United 
Kingdom  and  the  United  States,  and  in  that  of  woollens 
by  the  United  Kingdom,  the  United  States,  and  France. 
Between  1890  and  1903  the  production  of  pig-iron  was  in- 
creased from  4,626,000  tons  to  10,000,018,  which  amount  — 
as  also  the  production  in  1903  of  6,646,869  tons  of  steel  — 
was  surpassed  by  the  production  of  the  United  States  only. 
Between  1890  and  1902  the  yearly  output  of  the  mining  in- 
dustries of  the  Empire  (in  which  one-fifth  of  the  industrial 
population  is  employed)  was  increased  from  104,000,000  tons 
to  174,000,000,  and  the  value  of  this  output  from  725,000,000 
marks  to  1,235,000,000.  Between  1890  and  1900  the  number 
of  establishments  manufacturing  electrical  machinery  was 
increased  from  189  to  580,  and  the  value  of  the  output  from 
76,800,000  marks  to  368,000,000.  Similarly  imposing  statis- 
tics could  be  cited  for  the  chemical  industry,  in  which  Ger- 
many easily  leads  the  world,  and  for  a  long  list  of  other 
branches  of  industrial  enterprise. 

In  no  country  has  the  advance  of  industry  been  affected 
more  profoundly  by  the  development  of  transportation  than 
in  Germany.  German  railway  construction  began  with  the 
building  of  a  line  four  miles  in  length  from  Nuremberg  to 
Fiirth  in  1835,  followed  by  the  opening  of  a  line  between 
Leipsic  and  Dresden  in  1839.  The  growth  of  mileage  was 
thereafter  fairly  rapid,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  century  an 
aggregate  of  3633  miles  had  been  constructed.  In  many  of 
the  states,  especially  in  the  south,  railway  building  was  re- 
garded as  exclusively  a  public  function,  and  such  roads  as 
were  constructed  were  from  the  beginning  the  property  of 
the  state.  In  Prussia  lines  were  built  both  by  the  state  and 
by  private  capitalists,  but  after  1848  state  control  was  grad- 
ually extended,  and  after  1881  all  remaining  privately  owned 
roads  were  brought  under  government  control.     Through- 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   119 

out  the  Empire  as  a  whole  there  were  in  use  in  1906 
34,470  miles  of  railway.  Of  this  number,  only  2579  were 
privately  owned;  and  some  150  miles  of  this  quota  were 
publicly  operated.  The  railway  system  of  Germany  is  to-day 
one  of  the  best  in  the  world  and,  supplemented  as  it  is  by  an 
elaborately  developed  and  state-controlled  system  of  internal 
waterways,  and  by  a  transoceanic  shipping  closely  rivalling 
that  of  Great  Britain,  it  affords  the  industry  of  the  nation 
every  possible  facility  for  the  attainment  of  market  outlets. 

The  effects  of  the  past  four  decades  of  industrial  change 
upon  population,  occupation,  and  wealth  in  Germany  can 
hardly  be  exaggerated.  The  aggregate  population  of  the  Em- 
pire in  1871  was  41,058,792.  In  1905  it  was  60,641,278,  and 
to-day  it  is  not  far  from  64,000,000.  In  1871  there  were 
only  eight  cities  having  a  population  of  more  than  100,000, 
and  only  36.1  per  cent  of  the  people  lived  in  urban  centres  of 
2000  inhabitants ;  in  1905  there  were  forty-one  cities  of  more 
than  100,000,  and  by  1900  the  percentage  of  urban  popula- 
tion had  risen  to  54.3.  The  occupations  census  of  1907  showed 
that  the  percentage  of  the  population  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits,  which  fell  from  42.5  in  1882  to  35.7  in  1895,  stood 
at  28.6,  giving  the  industrial  and  commercial  classes  a  pre- 
ponderance of  almost  three  to  one.  Between  187 1  and  the 
present  day  both  exports  and  imports  have  been  tripled. 
Recent  estimates  place  the  wealth  of  the  Empire  at  the 
stupendous  figure  of  350,000,000,000  marks. 

In  Russia  there  has  taken  place  during  the  past  generation 
a  revolutionizing  of  industrial  conditions  comparable  in  kind, 
if  not  yet  in  degree,  with  that  which  has  been  noted  in  Eng- 
land, France,  and  Germany.  It  is  interesting  to  observe 
that  Russia  has  had  factories  since  the  era  of  Peter  the  Great, 
and  that  as  early  as  1765  there  were  in  the  Empire  no  fewer 
than  262  such  establishments,  employing  37,862  laborers. 
Some  were  maintained  directly  by  the  state,  others  by  the 
nobles,  and  their  output  consisted  principally  in  sail-cloth, 


120    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

linen,  silks,  arms,  and  ammunition.  Work,  however,  was 
generally  unskilled,  unwilling,  and  unproductive.  It  was  not 
until  after  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs  in  1861  that,  by 
reason  of  the  substitution  of  voluntary  wage-earning  labor 
for  compulsory  labor,  conditions  became  at  all  favorable  for 
the  advancement  of  industrial  technique.  By  this  same 
event  many  noble  proprietors  were  both  freed  from  galling 
obligations  to  the  state  and  supplied  with  ready  capital,  and 
the  consequence  was  that  many  of  them  became  leaders  in 
large-scale  industrial  enterprises.  Through  the  maintenance 
of  a  rigid  tariff  system  the  manufactures  of  the  country  were 
afforded  protection  against  outside  competition,  and  gradu- 
ally there  was  introduced  the  use  of  the  various  sorts  of 
machinery  by  which  the  industrial  life  of  western  states  had 
been  transformed. 

The  era  of  great  industrial  advance  began  with  the  appoint- 
ment of  Count  Witte  in  1891  to  the  ministry  of  finance  and 
commerce.  Witte's  policy,  based  upon  the  doctrine  that 
agriculture  alone  cannot  make  a  nation  strong,  embraced 
the  persistent  encouragement  of  the  investment  of  foreign 
capital  in  Russia,  to  the  end  that  railways  might  be  built, 
factories  established,  mines  developed,  and  the  nation  made 
so  far  as  possible  independent  economically  of  the  remainder 
of  the  world.  The  policy  met  with  no  small  amount  of  oppo- 
sition, but  it  was  so  far  carried  out  as  to  be  productive 
of  remarkable  results.  Railway  building,  first  undertaken 
with  earnestness  in  Russia  following  the  misfortunes  of  the 
Crimean  War,  was  prosecuted  with  vigor,  culminating  in 
1900  in  the  opening  of  the  great  Trans-Siberian  highway 
from  St.  Petersburg  to  the  Pacific.  Between  18S5  and  1905 
the  railway  mileage  of  the  Empire  was  raised  from  16,155  to 
40,500.  Between  1887  and  1897  the  output  of  textiles,  of 
mineral  and  metallic  products,  and  of  chemicals,  paper,  and  a 
variety  of  other  commodities  was  doubled.  The  number  of 
people  employed  in  these  manufactures  was  increased  from 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   121 

1,318,048  to  2,098,262.  In  1904  it  was  estimated  that  there 
were  in  operation  in  the  cotton  industry  6,500,000  spindles 
and  200,000  looms ;  in  the  woollen  industry,  700,000  spindles 
and  45,000  looms ;  in  the  linen  industry,  300,000  spindles  and 
15,000  looms.  In  1898  Russia  passed  France  into  fourth 
place  among  the  nations  of  the  world  in  the  production  of 
pig-iron.  Throughout  the  European  portions  of  the  Empire 
the  factory  system  is  thoroughly  established,  and  there  are 
employed  to-day  in  factories  of  all  kinds  a  total  of  3,000,000 
to  4,000,000  laborers. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  domestic  system  of  manufacturing 
persists,  and  is  likely  long  to  persist,  on  a  very  extended  scale. 
The  holdings  of  the  peasantry  have  come  to  be  so  minutely 
subdivided  that  their  yield  is  frequently  too  meagre  for  the 
independent  support  of  a  household.  The  consequence  is 
that  the  peasant  is  driven  to  eke  out  his  family's  sustenance 
from  agriculture  by  the  income  of  industrial  pursuits  engaged 
in  during  the  winter  months.  In  thousands  of  communities 
the  villagers  have  entered  into  cooperative  associations  for 
the  production  of  every  sort  of  commodity  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  which  the  requisite  raw  or  partly  manufactured 
material  can  be  procured.  The  number  of  peasants  engaged 
in  these  kustari,  or  cottage  industries,  in  1904  was  estimated 
at  between  7,000,000  and  8,000,000.  The  trades  carried  on 
include  every  kind  of  spinning  and  weaving,  metal  work,  and 
the  production  of  articles  fashioned  from  wood,  bone,  leather, 
and  fur.  Sometimes  the  cottage  industry  is  subsidiary  to  a 
factory,  but  more  frequently  it  is  entirely  independent. 

Within  the  domain  of  trade,  as  within  that  of  agriculture 
and  that  of  manufacturing,  there  has  taken  place  in  the  past 
century  and  a  quarter  a  notable  liberation,  although  the 
changes  wrought  have  been  less  decisive  and  less  enduring 
than  those  that  have  been  carried  into  effect  in  the  other 
spheres  mentioned.  One  may  say,  perhaps,  that  the  general 
trend  of  the  past  four  or  five  generations  in  respect  to  liberty 


122     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

of  trade  has  been  away  from  a  system  of  rigid  tariff  restric- 
tion toward  a  free-trade  regime,  followed  by  a  protectionist 
reaction  which,  however,  may  or  may  not  prove  permanent. 
During  the  earlier  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  protective 
tariffs  were  all  but  universal,  and  not  until  the  century  was 
well  advanced  were  important  steps  taken  anywhere  in  the 
direction  of  trade  liberation. 

In  England  there  set  in  after  1830  a  free- trade  movement, 
led  by  Richard  Cobden  and  John  Bright,  which  had  as  its 
immediate  objective  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  but  whose 
ultimate  aim  was  the  overthrow  of  the  protectionist  regime 
in  all  of  its  phases.  In  1842  the  first  triumph  was  won  with 
the  repeal  of  all  remaining  duties  upon  exports  and  the  re- 
duction of  import  duties  upon  no  fewer  than  750  articles  of 
consumption.  In  1846  the  Corn  Laws  were  repealed,  and 
in  1853  Gladstone  succeeded  in  having  the  duties  removed 
from  123  commodities  and  reduced  on  133  others.  In  i860 
Cobden  procured  a  treaty  with  France  in  accordance  with 
which  that  nation  undertook  to  reduce  her  duties  upon  all 
articles  of  British  manufacture,  in  return  for  the  reduction 
of  British  duties  on  French  wines  and  spirits.  Under  the 
direction  of  Gladstone,  however,  the  scheme  in  so  far  as  Great 
Britain  was  concerned,  was  materially  broadened.  Whereas 
the  treaty  committed  the  nation  to  reduced  tariffs  upon 
French  goods  only,  the  reduction  was  made  universal,  and 
what  had  been  a  specific  measure  of  reciprocity  was  con- 
verted into  a  general  measure  of  free  trade.  After  i860  there 
remained  in  England  but  forty-eight  commodities  which  were 
subject  to  any  sort  of  tariff  duties  at  all.  This  number  was 
reduced  subsequently,  and  while  Great  Britain  maintains 
to  this  day  a  tariff  system,  it  is  of  very  limited  scope  and  is 
kept  up  for  revenue  purposes  solely.  The  principal  articles 
upon  which  duties  are  at  present  collected  are  tobacco,  tea, 
spirits,  wine,  and  sugar.  The  "tariff  reform,"  i.e.,  protec- 
tionist, campaign   inaugurated   by  Joseph   Chamberlain  in 


ECONOMIC  CHANGES  ON  THE  CONTINENT   123 

1903  has  placed  the  British  free  trade  system  on  the  defensive, 
but  it  has  not  as  yet  wrought  any  change  in  the  economic 
practice  of  the  nation. 

In  France  a  protectionist  policy  was  adopted  at  the  close 
of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  for  reasons  not  unlike  those  by  which 
the  United  States  was  influenced  at  the  same  time  to  take  a 
similar  step.  A  series  of  measures  culminated  in  the  high 
tariff  of  1826,  which  was  continued  through  the  Orleanist 
period  and  in  1841  was  made  still  more  stringent.  After 
the  establishment  of  the  Second  Empire,  in  1852,  however, 
there  took  place  several  irregular  reductions  of  tariff  rates, 
and  in  i860,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  the  Cobden  treaty  in 
effect  established  freedom  of  trade  with  Great  Britain.  In 
1861  all  export  duties  on  grain  were  abolished,  and  duties  on 
imports  were  placed  very  low.  After  1862  treaties  analogous 
to  that  of  i860  with  Great  Britain  were  concluded  with  vari- 
ous nations,  and  at  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  in  1870,  France 
was  distinctly  a  low  tariff  country.  The  first  decade  of  the 
republic,  however,  was  a  period  of  economic  stress  and 
of  reaction  toward  protectionism,  and  by  the  great  tariff 
measures  of  1881  and  1892  the  nation  was  put  once  more 
upon  a  thoroughly  protectionist  basis;  and  from  the  posi- 
tion here  assumed  there  has  been  in  later  times  no  substan- 
tial departure. 

Germany  entered  the  nineteenth  century  with  a  multiplic- 
ity and  confusion  of  tariff  arrangements.  Prussia  is  said 
to  have  had  in  1800  as  many  as  sixty-seven  different  tariffs, 
covering  an  aggregate  of  three  thousand  articles.  By  meas- 
ures of  1818  and  1822  this  state  of  things  was  remedied  and 
the  Prussian  tariff  was  made  not  only  uniform  but  the  most 
liberal  of  its  day  in  Europe.  In  1833  a  long  step  in  the  direc- 
tion of  internal  freedom  of  trade  in  Germany  was  taken  by 
the  establishment  of  the  Zollverein,  or  Customs  Union,  to 
which  at  the  outset  seventeen  states  adhered,  and  to  which 
others   subsequently  gave   their   allegiance.     All  tariffs  be- 


124    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

tween  members  of  the  Union  were  abolished,  and  with  the 
gradual  expansion  of  the  affiliation  the  range  of  accessible 
markets  commanded  by  German  industries  was  materially 
increased.  In  1870  the  territory  covered  by  the  Zollverein 
was  nearly,  though  not  altogether,  coterminous  with  that 
which  was  brought  within  the  limits  of  the  new  Empire. 
From  187 1  to  1879  the  policy  of  the  Empire  inclined  strongly 
to  freedom  of  trade.  But  the  economic  crisis  of  1873-74 
created  new  conditions  and  lent  impetus  to  a  protectionist 
reaction  which  reached  its  culmination,  beginning  in  1879, 
in  an  abandonment  of  low  tariffs  and  the  adoption  of  a 
system  of  thoroughgoing  protection.  The  change  was  the 
achievement  principally  of  Bismarck,  whose  avowed  purposes 
were  the  increase  of  the  Empire's  revenue  and  the  encourage- 
ment of  German  industries.  The  new  system  met  with  oppo- 
sition and  had  to  be  imposed  gradually;  but  its  eventual 
adoption  was  complete  and,  although  Germans  are  by  no 
means  united  upon  the  desirability  of  the  policy,  the  Em- 
pire continues  to-day  one  of  the  arch-protectionist  nations 
of  the  world. 

Of  remaining  continental  states,  it  may  be  added,  only 
a  few  —  principally  Denmark,  Holland,  and  Belgium  —  ad- 
here to-day  to  free-trade  principles,  and  even  they  have  been 
obliged  to  yield  at  some  points.  Russia,  in  modern  times, 
has  never  been  anything  other  than  protectionist.  Austria- 
Hungary,  after  a  period  forty  years  ago  of  almost  absolute 
free  trade,  swung  back  after  1878  to  protection.  Italy 
inaugurated  her  new  nationality  under  the  low  tariff  of  1861, 
but  by  acts  of  1877  and  1887  became  highly  protectionist. 
Spain  has  been  protectionist  since  1877 ;  Sweden  and  Norway, 
since  1888;  Switzerland,  mildly  so  since  1887-91. 


CHAPTER  IX 

POLITICAL  REFORM   IN   ENGLAND   TO    1 83  2 

Despite  her  parliamentary  institutions,  her  traditional 
principles  of  local  self-government,  and  her  sweeping  guaran- 
tees of  individual  liberty,  England  in  the  eighteenth  century 
was  in  no  proper  sense  a  democratic  country.  Not  only  was 
society  organized,  as  indeed  is  English  society  to-day,  upon 
a  basis  that  was  essentially  aristocratic,  but  government  like- 
wise was  controlled  by,  and  largely  in  the  interest  of,  the  few 
of  higher  station.  One  branch  of  Parliament  was  composed 
entirely  of  clerical  and  hereditary  members ;  the  other,  of 
members  elected  at  best  upon  the  basis  of  an  extremely  re- 
stricted franchise  or  appointed  outright  by  closed  corpora- 
tions or  by  individual  magnates.  Not  only  the  men  who 
made  the  laws,  but  the  officers  who  executed  them,  and  the 
judges  in  whose  tribunals  they  were  applied,  were  selected 
by  processes  with  which  the  mass  of  the  nation  had  nothing 
to  do.  The  agencies  of  local  government,  whether  in  county 
or  in  borough,  were  as  a  rule  exclusive,  and  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  political  system  privilege  and  class  distinction 
were  clearly  preponderant.  The  ordinary  man  was  called 
upon  to  obey  laws  and  to  pay  taxes  voted  without  his  direct 
or  indirect  assent,  to  submit  to  industrial,  social,  and  ecclesi- 
astical regulations  whose  repeal  or  amendment  he  had  no 
effective  means  of  influencing,  to  support  a  government  which 
was  beyond  his  power  to  control.  Although  the  Stuart  doc- 
trine of  divine  right  had  been  ejected  utterly  from  English 
political  philosophy,  and  the  crown  had  been  reduced  to  a 
wholly  subordinate  position  in  the  state,  England  was  still, 
politically  as  well  as  industrially,  a  land  of  the  ancien  regime. 

125 


126    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

On  the  one  side  of  the  Channel,  as  on  the  other,  there  was 
discontent.  If  economic  and  governmental  abuses  were  in 
England  less  flagrant  than  in  France,  they  were  not  less  real; 
and  long  before  1789  there  was  in  the  island  a  growth  of  re- 
form sentiment  comparable  with  that  which  at  the  same  time 
was  under  way  in  France.  In  1780  a  group  of  public-spirited 
men  established  a  Society  for  Constitutional  Information 
which  during  the  ensuing  decade  carried  on  an  active  propa- 
ganda in  behalf  of  reform.  Pamphlets  were  published  direct- 
ing attention  to  the  need  of  a  liberalizing  of  Parliament;  and 
at  a  meeting  presided  over  by  the  great  Whig  orator,  Charles 
James  Fox,  a  program  was  drawn  up  which  included  such 
advanced  demands  as  universal  suffrage,  equal  electoral  dis- 
tricts, abolition  of  property  qualifications  for  members  of  the 
Commons,  payment  of  members,  and  vote  by  ballot  at  parlia- 
mentary elections.  Every  one  of  these  demands  was  des- 
tined to  reappear  half  a  century  later  in  the  program  of  the 
Chartists.  It  is  of  interest  to  observe  that  their  origin  ante- 
dates the  nineteenth  century.  In  Parliament  this  first  phase 
of  reform  propaganda  produced  no  results,  but  throughout 
the  country  it  had  an  effect  that  was  considerable  in  the 
education  of  the  public  mind. 

The  outbreak  of  revolution  in  France  in  1789  served  to 
reveal  the  hold  which  democratic  principles  had  acquired  in 
England.  The  doctrines  of  liberty  and  equality  which  were 
enumerated  in  the  National  Assembly's  Declaration  of 
Rights  were  accorded  widespread  approval,  and  in  many 
quarters  there  was  expressed  the  hope  that  they  might  be 
brought  to  bear  in  the  regeneration  of  Britain's  aristocratic 
governmental  system.  In  1890  societies  modelled  on  the 
Parisian  Jacobin  Club,  and  scarcely  more  respectful  of 
venerable  institutions  than  was  that  iconoclastic  organiza- 
tion, began  to  be  formed  by  the  scores.  Public  meetings  in 
the  interest  of  reform  were  held,  and  propagandist  literature 
was  circulated  with  the  purpose  of  inciting  England  to  an  up- 


POLITICAL  REFORM   IN   ENGLAND   TO   1832       127 

rising,  less  violent  perhaps,  but  not  necessarily  less  far-reach- 
ing in  its  consequences,  than  that  by  which  the  transforma- 
tion of  France  was  being  accomplished. 

From  the  outset  the  reform  movement  was  discounte- 
nanced by  the  government,  and  after,  in  1791,  the  outbreak 
of  the  French  war,  strong  measures  were  employed  to  bring  it 
to  an  end.  In  part  by  reason  of  the  firm  attitude  of  the 
authorities,  and  in  part  by  reason  of  revulsion  aroused  by 
the  excesses  of  the  later  revolutionary  period  in  France,  all 
public  manifestation  of  sympathy  with  the  continental  move- 
ment ceased  after  1794.  Throughout  the  prolonged  period 
of  the  Napoleonic  wars  there  continued  to  be  discontent,  but 
it  was  generally  recognized  that  the  nation  was  engaged  in  a 
contest  which  might  mean  life  or  death,  and  the  desire  for 
reform  was  so  far  held  in  check  that  it  did  not,  during  these 
years,  take  expression  in  organized  political  propaganda. 
By  the  Tory  party,  which  continued  in  power  throughout  the 
larger  part  of  the  war  period,  the  abuses  by  which  the  revolu- 
tion in  France  was  accompanied  were  maintained  to  be  the 
inevitable  consequences  of  innovation,  and  proposals  of  change 
were  systematically  resisted.  The  Whigs,  cleft  asunder  by 
the  schism  between  Burke  and  Fox,  were  reduced  to  im- 
potence, and  while  some  were  moderately  favorable  to  reform, 
most  were  indifferent  or  frankly  apprehensive. 

The  restoration  of  peace  following  Waterloo  brought  an 
almost  instant  renewal  of  agitation.  "Never,"  says  an 
English  scholar,  "has  a  nation  been  more  perplexed  and 
dismayed  by  the  sudden  drop  from  glory  to  misery,  from 
national  exultation  to  civil  discord,  than  the  people  of  Eng- 
land in  1815"; x  and  it  may  be  added  that  no  equal  period 
in  the  history  of  modern  England  has  been  filled  with  distress 
and  unrest  comparable  with  that  which  prevailed  between 
1815  and  1830.  Crops  were  poor  and  agriculture  was  de- 
pressed, the  dislocation  of  industry  incident  to  the  rise  of 

1  Rose,  "The  Rise  of  Democracy,"  15. 


128    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  factory  system  was  still  in  evidence,  prices  were  high, 
employment  was  irregular,  and  wages  were  low.  Especially 
exasperating,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  laboring  masses, 
were  the  measures  enacted  in  1815  and  after  for  the  regulation 
of  the  importation  of  foreign-grown  grain.  In  the  interest  of 
the  landholding  aristocracy  the  Corn  Law  of  1815  prescribed 
that  no  grain  might  be  imported  into  England  when  the 
price  of  the  home-grown  commodity  should  fall  below  eighty 
shillings  per  quarter.1  The  Corn  Laws  comprised,  and  were 
understood  at  the  time  to  comprise,  legislation  in  the  interests 
of  a  class.  By  their  enactment  Parliament  deliberately 
shifted  the  burden  of  the  prevailing  hard  times  from  the 
social  group  most  able  to  bear  it,  the  landed  proprietors,  to 
that  least  able,  the  farm  and  factory  laborers. 

Under  the  operation  of  the  measures  the  lot  of  the  common 
man  grew  distinctly  worse,  for  while  employment  was  as 
uncertain  as  before  and  wages  no  higher,  the  cost  of  food- 
stuffs was  perceptibly  increased.  Against  the  laws,  and 
against  the  system  which  rendered  such  laws  possible,  popu- 
lar protest  was  unmistakable.  Ordinary  protest,  indeed, 
not  infrequently  gave  place  to  violence,  mobs  of  farm  hands 
burning  the  hoarded  grain  of  the  landlord,  while  other  mobs 
of  factory  workers  demolished  machines  and  wrecked  in- 
dustrial establishments.  Fiery  agitators  inflamed  the  masses 
against  the  government  and  against  the  capitalist  and  pro- 
prietary classes,  and  schemes  were  entertained  for  marching 
upon  London  and  forcing  Parliament  to  redress  the  public 
grievances.  Through  several  years  the  Tory  administration 
was  unable  to  bring  itself  to  the  adoption  of  any  policy  other 
than  that  of  repression.  Mass  meetings  were  broken  up, 
propagandist  literature  was  suppressed,  and  its  publishers  were 
prosecuted  for  libel;  the  habeas  corpus  act  was   suspended 

1  Grain  grown  in  the  British  colonies  might  be  imported  save  when  the  price 
in  England  was  under  sixty-seven  shillings  a  quarter.  A  quarter  is  approxi- 
mately eight  bushels. 


POLITICAL  REFORM   IN   ENGLAND  TO   1832        129 

until  it  became  almost  a  nullity,  and  threatened  rioting  was 
averted  by  the  most  rigorous  of  military  measures.  The 
culmination  of  a  series  of  unfortunate  occurrences  came  in 
a  clash  between  a  squad  of  cavalry  and  a  popular  gathering 
at  St.  Peter's  field,  Manchester,  in  August,  1819,  —  an  af- 
fair which  acquired  the  name  of  the  "Peterloo  Massacre." 
Undeterred,  the  government  carried  through,  late  in  the 
same  year,  a  body  of  gag  laws  known  as  the  Six  Acts,  whereby 
public  meetings  for  the  consideration  of  grievances  were  pro- 
hibited and  numerous  other  restrictions  upon  the  freedom  of 
the  individual  were  imposed. 

There  were  radicals,  such  as  those  who  in  1820  conspired 
the  assassination  of  the  entire  Tory  ministry,  who  were  so 
bent  upon  the  overturn  of  the  existing  order  that  they  were 
disposed  to  stop  at  nothing.  This  element,  however,  was  de- 
structive rather  than  constructive,  and  in  time  it  was  discredited 
by  its  own  excesses.  Among  the  abler  and  more  far-sighted 
reformers  the  conviction  took  root  that  only  through  broadly 
conceived  legislation  could  the  ills  that  were  complained  of 
be  remedied.  Such  legislation,  however,  there  was  slender 
reason  to  expect  so  long  as  Parliament  should  be  constituted 
as  it  was.  The  objective  toward  which,  accordingly,  the 
reform  movement  was  more  and  more  directed  was  the 
extension  of  the  parliamentary  franchise  and  the  re -allotment 
of  parliamentary  representation.  In  the  elaboration  and 
promotion  of  this  program  leadership  fell  through  a 
number  of  years  to  the  pugnacious  William  Cobbett,  the  first 
English  newspaper  editor  who  caught  the  ear  of  the  public 
and  made  the  press  a  political  power.  In  the  issue  of  his 
Weekly  Political  Register  of  October  26,  1816,  Cobbett  set 
up  a  demand  for  the  annual  election  of  Parliament  by  all  the 
taxpayers  of  the  realm  and  insisted  that  to  this  every  other 
public  question  should  be  subordinated.  "Let  us  have  this 
reform  first,"  he  urged,  "and  all  other  good  things  will  be 
given  unto  us."    Here  it  was  that  English  political  radical- 


130    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

ism,  faintly  discerned  in  1780-85,  and  only  momentarily 
impressive  in  1790-94,  entered  upon  a  new  and  conquering 
phase.  After  181 6  the  working-people,  directly  encouraged 
by  Cobbett,  expended  more  and  more  of  their  propagandist 
energy  in  agitation  for  a  democratic  Parliament.  Among 
the  thinking  classes  very  considerable  influence  was  exercised, 
too,  by  the  writings  of  Jeremy  Bentham,  a  political  philoso- 
pher who,  aroused  by  Blackstone's  panegyric  of  the  English 
constitution,  pointed  out  convincingly  how  irrational  and 
unjust  were  many  of  the  practices  and  conditions  which 
prevailed  under  that  constitution. 

During  the  reign  of  George  IV.  (1820-30)  the  Tory 
government,  directed  by  Canning,  Peel,  and  Huskisson, 
relaxed  somewhat  its  earlier  rigor  and  suffered  a  number  of 
liberalizing  measures  to  be  carried  through,  though  none 
touching  directly  the  most  serious  problems  of  the  day.  In 
1823  the  criminal  code  was  humanized  by  the  abolition  of 
the  death  penalty  for  no  fewer  than  a  hundred  offences.  In 
1825  working-men  were  permitted  for  the  first  time,  under 
certain  conditions,  to  form  trade-unions.  And  by  the  memo- 
rable Emancipation  Act  of  1829  Catholics  were  restored  to 
their  political  rights.  But  the  fundamental  fact  remained 
that  Parliament,  the  national  law-making  body,  was  an 
aristocratic  assemblage  in  which  the  nation  as  a  whole  was 
but  ineffectively  represented,  and  from  the  remedying  of 
this  condition  the  reform  elements  never  again  allowed  their 
attention  to  be  distracted. 

The  problem  of  parliamentary  reform  was  twofold.  One 
of  the  questions  involved  was  that  of  the  readjustment  of 
representation  in  the  Commons  to  comport  with  the  existing 
distribution  of  population;  the  other  was  that  of  the  exten- 
sion of  the  franchise.  In  the  United  States,  as  in  many 
European  countries,  it  is  required  by  constitutional  provision 
that  following  each  decennial  census  there  shall  take  place  a 
reapportionment  of  seats  in  the  popular  legislative  chamber. 


POLITICAL  REFORM   IN   ENGLAND  TO   1832       131 

The  purpose  of  this  reapportionment  is,  of  course,  to  pre- 
serve substantial  equality  among  the  electoral  constituen- 
cies and,  ultimately,  an  essential  parity  of  political  power 
among  the  voters.  At  no  time,  however,  has  there  been  to 
this  day  in  Great  Britain  either  a  constitutional  stipulation 
or  the  semblance  of  a  tradition  in  reference  to  this  matter. 
Reapportionment  has  taken  place  only  partially  and  at 
irregular  intervals,  and  at  a  few  points  only  in  the  history  of 
the  nation  have  constituencies  represented  at  Westminster 
been  even  approximately  equal.  The  number  of  people 
represented  by  some  members  of  the  House  of  Commons 
to-day  is  eighteen  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  constituents 
of  certain  other  members. 

In  1832  —  the  year  of  the  first  great  Reform  Act  —  the 
House  of  Commons  consisted  of  658  members,  of  whom  186 
represented  the  forty  counties  and  472  sat  for  some  two  hun- 
dred boroughs.  The  distribution  of  the  county  and  borough 
members  was  grossly  inequitable  and  haphazard.  Save  that, 
in  1707,  forty-five  members  had  been  added  to  represent 
Scotland  and,  in  1801,  one  hundred  to  represent  Ireland,  the 
composition  of  the  Commons  had  continued  substantially 
unchanged  since  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The 
population  changes,  in  respect  both  to  growth  and  to  distri- 
bution, falling  within  this  prolonged  period  were,  however, 
enormous.  In  1689  the  population  of  England  and  Wales  was 
not  in  excess  of  5,500,000.  The  census  of  1831  revealed  in 
these  countries  a  population  of  14,000,000.  In  the  seven- 
teenth and  earlier  eighteenth  centuries  the  great  mass  of  the 
English  people  lived  in  the  south.  Liverpool  was  but  an 
insignificant  town,  Manchester  a  village,  and  Birmingham 
a  sand-hill.  By  the  industrial  revolution,  however,  coal  and 
iron  were  brought  into  enormous  demand,  and  both  the  in- 
dustrial and  the  population  centre  of  the  country  was  shifted 
rapidly  northward.  In  the  remote  and  hitherto  almost  unten- 
anted valleys  of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  sprang  up  a  mul- 


132     SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

titude  of  factories  and  of  towns  and  cities.  In  Parliament 
these  fast-growing  populations  of  the  north  were  either  grossly 
under-represented  or  not  represented  at  all.  In  183 1  the 
ten  southernmost  counties  of  England  contained  a  population 
of  3,260,000  and  returned  to  Parliament  235  members.  At 
the  same  time  the  six  northernmost  counties  contained  a 
population  of  3,594,000,  but  returned  only  68  members. 
Cornwall,  with  300,000  inhabitants,  had  44  representatives; 
Lancashire,  with  1,330,000,  had  14.  Birmingham  and 
Manchester,  each  with  upward  of  100,000  people;  Leeds 
and  Sheffield,  each  with  50,000 ;  Leith,  Paisley,  and  numerous 
other  towns  of  10,000  to  20,000,  had  no  representation  what- 
ever. 

On  the  contrary,  there  were  entitled  to  representation 
boroughs  which  contained  ludicrously  meagre  populations, 
and  in  a  few  instances  no  population  at  all.  Gatto,  in  Sur- 
rey, was  a  park;  Old  Sarum,  in  Wiltshire,  was  a  deserted 
hill ;  Corfe  Castle,  in  Dorsetshire,  was  a  ruin ;  the  remains  of 
what  once  was  Dunwich  were  under  the  waves  of  the  North 
Sea.  The  majority  of  represented  boroughs,  indeed,  con- 
tained voting  populations  not  in  excess  of  one  hundred  souls. 
Borough  members  were  very  generally  not  true  representa- 
tives at  all,  but  simply  appointees,  designated  by  peers,  by 
influential  commoners,  or  by  the  government.  Of  the  472 
borough  members,  not  more  than  137  may  be  regarded  as 
having  been  in  any  proper  sense  elected.  The  remainder 
sat  for  "pocket  boroughs"  as  the  nominees  of  great  land- 
lords or  political  leaders,  or  for  "rotten  boroughs,"  whose 
populations  were  so  scant  that  here  also  the  borough  might 
be  carried  about,  as  it  were,  in  a  magnate's  pocket.  Bos- 
seney,  in  Cornwall,  was  a  hamlet  of  three  cottages,  eight  of 
whose  nine  electors  belonged  to  a  single  family.  But  Bos- 
seney  sent  two  members  to  the  House  of  Commons.  In  the 
whole  of  Cornwall,  with  its  300,000  people,  there  were  only 
1000  voters.     Of  the  42  members  who  sat  for  the  county, 


POLITICAL  REFORM   IN   ENGLAND   TO   1832        133 

twenty  were  controlled  by  seven  peers,  twenty-one  were 
similarly  controlled  by  eleven  commoners,  and  but  one  was 
freely  elected.  Throughout  the  country  generally,  bribery 
and  other  forms  of  political  corruption  were  so  common  that 
only  the  most  shameless  instances  attracted  public  notice. 
Not  merely  votes,  but  seats,  were  bought  and  sold  openly, 
and  it  was  a  matter  of  common  understanding  that  £5000 
was  the  average  price  which  a  political  aspirant  was  expected 
to  pay  a  "borough-monger  "  for  bringing  about  his  election. 
Seats  were  sometimes  advertised  for  sale  in  the  public  prints, 
and  even  for  hire  for  a  term  of  years.  In  transactions  of  the 
sort  high  officials  of  state  not  infrequently  participated  sys- 
tematically and  publicly. 

Not  only  was  the  parliamentary  franchise  exercised  often, 
perhaps  usually,  under  circumstances  by  which  it  was  robbed 
of  its  free  and  deliberative  character;  the  exercise  of  the 
franchise  under  any  sort  of  condition  was  very  narrowly  con- 
fined. Originally  the  representatives  of  the  counties  were 
chosen  in  the  county  court  by  all  persons  who  were  entitled 
to  attend  and  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings  of  that  body. 
In  1430,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  an  act  was  passed  to 
prevent  riotous  and  disorderly  elections,  and  by  this  act  it 
was  stipulated  that  county  electors  should  thereafter  com- 
prise only  such  male  residents  of  the  county  as  possessed  free 
land  or  tenement  which  would  rent  for  as  much  as  forty 
shillings  a  year  above  all  charges.  Leaseholders,  copy- 
holders, small  freeholders,  and  all  non-landholders  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  suffrage  altogether.  Even  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries  the  number  of  forty-shilling  free- 
holders was  small.  With  the  concentration  of  land  in  fewer 
hands  in  the  eighteenth  and  earlier  nineteenth  centuries  it 
bore  an  increasingly  diminutive  ratio  to  the  aggregate  county 
population,  and  by  1830  the  county  electors  comprised  as 
a  rule  nothing  more  than  a  handful  of  large  landed  proprie- 
tors. 


134    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

The  history  of  the  franchise  in  the  boroughs  is  an  exceed- 
ingly complicated  matter.  At  no  period  of  English  history 
had  there  been,  prior  to  1830,  a  law  which  so  much  as  made 
an  attempt  to  regulate  the  subject.  Many  of  the  boroughs 
themselves  had  been  created  or  accorded  parliamentary  rep- 
resentation by  the  most  arbitrary  and  haphazard  means,  and 
the  conditions  of  the  franchise  within  them  depended  abso- 
lutely upon  local  custom  and  usage,  "settled  or  unsettled 
by  the  decisions  of  parliamentary  committees,  which  turned 
upon  personal  and  political  considerations."  x  The  boroughs 
of  1832  maybe  regarded  as  falling  into  four  groups:  (1)  the 
"  scot  and  lot "  and  "  potwalloper  "  boroughs,  in  which  the  right 
to  vote  belonged,  in  theory  at  least,  to  every  one  who  paid 
scot  (local  dues)  and  bore  lot  (the  burden  of  local  office),  or 
who  was  a  "potwalloper,"  equivalent  to  a  pot-boiler,  i.e.,  one 
who  was  sufficiently  well  off  to  boil  a  pot  of  one's  own ;  (2)  the 
burgage  boroughs,  where  the  right  to  vote  depended  upon 
ability  to  show  title  to  a  house  or  piece  of  land  by  the  form 
of  holding  known  as  burgage  tenure,  implying  nominally,  but 
not  actually,  local  residence;  (3)  corporation  boroughs,  or 
"close"  boroughs,  in  which  the  right  to  vote  was  restricted 
by  charter  to  the  members  of  the  governing  body  of  the 
borough,  a  body  generally  self-perpetuating,  often  non-resi- 
dent, and  always  irresponsible ;  and  (4)  freemen  boroughs, 
in  which  the  right  to  vote  was  conferred  upon  members  of 
the  general  corporation  comprising  the  borough,  as  distin- 
guished from  its  governing  body.  Theoretically,  the  fran- 
chise in  some  kinds  of  boroughs,  especially  the  first  class  men- 
tioned, was  broadly  democratic ;  practically  it  was  all  but 
invariably  exclusive,  irregular,  and  non-expansive. 

Behind  the  Reform  Act  of  1832  lay  half  a  century  of  agi- 
tation. The  forces  of  tradition,  conservatism,  and  vested 
interest  to  be  overcome  were  tremendous.  "Our  representa- 
tion," wrote  Burke,  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 

1  Ilbert,  "Parliament,"  38. 


POLITICAL  REFORM  IN  ENGLAND  TO   1832       135 

"  has  been  found  perfectly  adequate  to  all  of  the  purposes  for 
which  a  representation  of  the  people  can  be  desired  or  de- 
vised. I  defy  the  enemies  of  our  constitution  to  show  the 
contrary."  In  this  complacent  judgment  one  who  reflects 
upon  the  achievements  of  Great  Britain  in  the  eighteenth 
century  may  be  tempted  to  concur;  yet  one  knows,  as  the 
thinking  man  of  1830  knew,  that  the  House  of  Commons 
had  lost  touch  with  the  nation  at  large,  and  that,  under  the 
changed  conditions  that  have  been  described,  that  body  had 
grown  hopelessly  inadequate  to  represent  the  interests  of 
England's  most  sturdy  and  progressive  elements.  To  the 
passage  of  the  act  of  1832  several  circumstances  contributed 
—  the  accession  to  the  throne,  in  1830,  of  William  IV. ;  the 
revolutionary  movements  of  1830  on  the  continent;  the 
breakdown  of  Wellington's  Tory  government  and  the  suc- 
cession of  a  Whig  ministry,  prescribed  over  by  Earl  Grey, 
which  was  committed  unreservedly  to  the  cause  of  electoral 
reform. 

The  first  bill,  introduced  by  Lord  John  Russell,  March  1, 
1831,  proposed  to  redistribute  168  seats  and  to  enlarge  the 
national  electorate  by  approximately  half  a  million.  The 
measure  was  much  more  drastic  than  even  its  supporters 
had  expected  it  to  be,  and  upon  it  there  took  place  one  of  the 
most  notable  debates  in  the  history  of  Parliament.  The 
historian  Macaulay  in  an  able  speech  declared  the  question 
to  be  simply  whether  "a  hundred  drunken  pot  wallopers  in 
one  place,  or  the  owner  of  a  ruined  hovel  in  another,  shall 
be  invested  with  powers  which  are  withheld  from  cities  re- 
nowned to  the  furthest  ends  of  the  earth  for  the  marvels  of 
their  wealth  and  of  their  industry."  Under  the  leadership 
of  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  other  antagonists  of  the  reform,  the 
ministry  was  eventually  defeated.  It  then  appealed,  in  so 
far  as  it  was  possible  to  appeal,  to  the  nation,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1 83 1  there  was  elected,  amid  the  most  unusual  excitement, 
a  new  House  of  Commons.     The  result  was  an  overwhelming 


136    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

victory  for  the  reformers,  and,  June  24,  183 1,  Lord  John  Rus- 
sell introduced  a  second  bill,  essentially  a  duplicate  of  the 
first.  It  was  the  fate  of  this  measure  to  be  passed  by  the 
Commons  by  a  majority  of  106,  only  to  be  rejected,  October  8, 
1 83 1,  by  the  Lords.  December  12,  amid  public  agitation 
which  to  many  seemed  to  presage  civil  war,  Russell  intro- 
duced a  third  bill.  March  23,  1832,  the  measure  passed  the 
Commons  by  the  increased  majority  of  116.  Again  the  Lords 
showed  opposition,  although  the  temper  of  the  country,  it 
was  clear,  would  brook  no  further  delay.  The  Grey  ministry 
appealed  to  the  king  to  create  a  sufficient  number  of  peers 
to  give  its  supporters  a  majority  in  the  upper  chamber.  For 
the  moment  the  request  was  refused,  whereupon  the  ministry 
resigned.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  of  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton to  form  a  ministry,  however,  was  followed  by  the  restora- 
tion of  Grey  and  his  colleagues  to  office  and  the  giving  by 
the  king  of  the  pledge  which  the  Whig  leaders  had  desired. 
Confronted  by  the  prospect  of  being  "swamped"  in  behalf 
of  the  reform  measure,  the  Lords  yielded  and,  June  4,  1832, 
passed  the  bill.     Three  days  later  the  measure  became  law. 

The  change  brought  about  by  the  Reform  Act  of  1832  is 
pronounced  by  Spencer  Walpole  "the  largest  revolution 
which  had  ever  been  peaceably  effected  in  any  country."  *  If 
the  measure  be  viewed  as  a  legislative  act  complete  within 
itself,  such  an  assertion  is  of  course  extravagant.  Regarding 
it,  however,  as  it  should  be  regarded,  namely,  as  the  inevitable 
forerunner  of  other  and  more  far-reaching  measures  of 
democratization,  the  judgment  may  easily  be  sustained. 
The  act  falls  into  two  parts,  the  first  relating  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  seats  in  Parliament,  the  second  to  the  extension  of 
the  franchise.  The  number  of  Scottish  members  was  in- 
creased from  45  to  54 ;  that  of  Irish,  from  100  to  105  ;  that  of 
English  and  Welsh  was  reduced  from  513  to  499.  There 
was  no  general  reapportionment  of  seats,  no  effort  to  bring 
1  Walpole,  "The  Electorate  and  the  Legislature,"  62. 


POLITICAL   REFORM   IN   ENGLAND  TO   1832       137 

the  parliamentary  quota  of  given  portions  of  the  country  into 
precise  and  uniform  relation  to  the  census  returns.  But  the 
most  glaringly  inequitable  of  former  electoral  conditions 
were  very  generally  remedied.  Fifty-six  boroughs  were 
deprived  entirely  of  representation,  and  thirty-one  were 
reduced  from  two  members  to  one.  Twenty-two  boroughs 
hitherto  unrepresented  were  given  two  members  each; 
twenty-four  others  were  given  one  additional  member  each ; 
twenty-seven  counties  were  given  one  new  member  apiece. 
The  redistribution  had  the  effect  of  increasing  greatly  the 
political  power  of  the  northern  and  central  portions  of  the 
kingdom. 

The  alterations  introduced  by  the  act  in  the  parliamentary 
franchise  were  numerous  and  important.  In  the  counties 
the  forty-shilling  freehold  franchise,  with  some  limitations, 
was  retained;  but  the  voting  privilege  was  extended  to  all 
leaseholders  and  copyholders  of  land  renting  for  as  much  as 
£10  a  year,  and  to  tenants-at-will  holding  an  estate  worth  £50 
a  year.  In  the  boroughs  the  right  to  vote  was  conferred  upon 
all  "occupiers"  of  houses  worth  £10  a  year.  By  basing  the 
franchise  exclusively  upon  the  ownership  or  occupancy  of 
valuable  property,  the  measure  fell  short  of  admitting  to 
political  power  the  great  mass  of  factory  employes,  and  of 
agricultural  laborers.  For  such  power  these  classes  had  yet 
half  a  century  to  wait.  And  the  fact  should  not  be  over- 
looked that  by  reason  of  its  essentially  conservative  charac- 
ter the  measure  of  1832  was  roundly  opposed  by  those  of  the 
radicals  who  were  bent  upon  universal  suffrage.  None  the 
less,  at  this  point  the  actual  number  of  voters  was  increased 
from  430,000  to  650,000,  and  one  in  every  22  of  the  total  pop- 
ulation became  an  elector.  If  the  franchise  had  not  been 
extended  to  the  masses,  it  had  been  brought  appreciably 
nearer  them ;  and  —  what  was  almost  equally  important  — 
it  had  been  made  substantially  uniform,  for  the  first  time, 
throughout  the  realm.     Much  the  larger  portion  of  the  House 


138  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

of  Commons  was  to  be  composed,  as  before,  of  borough 
members,  and  the  borough  members  were  hereafter  to  be 
elected  almost  exclusively  by  the  ten-pound  householders, 
representative  of  the  substantial  middle  class  of  the  popula- 
tion. 

Like  most  English  reforms,  that  of  1832  was  based  upon 
compromise.  There  was  in  it  little  or  nothing  of  abstract 
principle.  It  did  not  introduce,  and  was  not  intended  to 
introduce,  democracy.  It  did  not  abolish,  and  was  not  ex- 
pected to  abolish  (though  it  did  considerably  reduce),  political 
corruption.  Above  all,  there  was  in  it  nothing  of  the  ele- 
ment of  finality.  Its  authors  were  content  with  it,  but  in 
the  nature  of  the  case  the  nation  was  not  likely  long  to  be. 
The  removal  of  the  most  conspicuous  anomalies  of  parlia- 
mentary apportionment  inevitably  raised  the  question  why 
surviving  anomalies,  only  less  flagrant,  should  not  be  swept 
away.  Similarly,  the  forty-shilling  county  franchise  had 
long  tradition  behind  it ;  but  the  fifty-pound  leaseholder  or 
the  ten-pound  occupier  was  neither  venerable  nor  sacrosanct, 
and  if  these  people  were  to  be  recognized  as  qualified  to  vote, 
why  not  men  of  still  less  property  ? 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   GROWTH   OF   ENGLISH   DEMOCRACY 

The  Reform  Act  of  1832  realized  neither  the  hopes  of  those 
who  had  advocated  it  nor  the  fears  of  those  who  had  opposed 
it,  yet  it  was  a  momentous  piece  of  legislation  and  in  conse- 
quence of  it  the  history  of  Parliament  during  the  ensuing 
decade  assumes  an  unusual  measure  of  interest.  The  fact 
that  the  House  of  Commons,  if  by  no  means  democratized, 
had  none  the  less  been  brought  into  somewhat  closer  touch 
with  the  nation  was  made  manifest  by  a  remarkable  out- 
burst after  1832  of  legislative  activity  in  which  the  welfare 
of  the  people  as  a  whole,  and  especially  that  of  the  laboring 
masses,  counted  for  distinctly  more  than  in  earlier  times. 
In  1833  an  Emancipation  Act  liberated  all  slaves  held  in 
British  colonies  and  appropriated  the  considerable  though 
inadequate  sum  of  £20,000,000  for  the  compensation  of  the 
slave-holding  planters.  In  the  same  year  Parliament  in- 
augurated the  policy  of  appropriating  public  funds  to  the 
extension  of  elementary  education.  The  first  grant  was  but 
£20,000,  but  it  was  here  that  the  long  series  of  measures  by 
which  the  public  school  system  of  Great  Britain  was  brought 
into  being  had  its  beginning.  In  1833  likewise  there  was 
passed  the  first  comprehensive  measure  undertaking  to 
regulate  the  hours  and  conditions  of  labor  in  textile  factories. 
By  the  enactment  in  1834  of  the  New  Poor  Law  an  unfortu- 
nate statute  of  1795,  under  whose  operation  the  number 
of  paupers  had  been  increased  and  the  burden  of  poor-relief 
had  been  made  all  but  unendurable,  was  overhauled  and 
largely  rescinded.  In  1835  a  Municipal  Corporations  Act 
created  a  uniform  system  of  government  for  the  incorporated 

139 


140    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

towns  of  the  kingdom,  substituting  for  the  highly  aristocratic 
agencies  which  formerly  had  controlled  municipal  affairs  a 
variety  of  organs  which,  though  representative  still  of  prop- 
erty interests,  were  in  some  real  degree  democratic.  In 
1836  registration  of  births,  marriages,  and  deaths  was  taken 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  Church  and  vested  in  a  new  body  of 
state  officials.  In  1836  the  stamp  duty  on  newspapers  was 
reduced,  and  in  1840,  when  the  use  of  postage  stamps  was 
inaugurated,  the  postal  rate  on  letters  was  lowered  to  a  penny 
(two  cents).  By  these  and  other  measures  of  the  earlier 
reformed  parliaments,  the  social,  fiscal,  and  administrative 
machinery  of  the  kingdom  was  profoundly  altered  and  liberal- 
ized. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  radical  reformers,  however,  what 
had  been  done  constituted  but  a  beginning.  The  legislation 
of  1832-36  was  conceived  largely,  though  not  exclusively, 
in  the  interest  of  the  newly  enfranchised  middle  classes. 
The  vast  body  of  artisans  and  rural  laborers,  untouched  by 
the  parliamentary  changes  of  1832,  remained  in  a  situation 
scarcely  less  favorable  than  before.  The  Corn  Laws,  by 
which  the  price  of  food  was  kept  at  an  artificial  level,  were 
still  on  the  statute  books.  The  crying  abuses  of  labor  in 
mines  and  in  non-textile  factories  continued  unrelieved,  and 
even  in  textile  establishments  the  reforms  introduced  by  the 
law  of  1833  comprised  but  the  barest  minimum.  The  press 
was  still  shackled  by  taxes  and  censorship.  The  public  aid 
of  education  was  pitifully  meagre.  Taxes  were  excessive 
and  ill-adjusted.  And  political  power  was  still  confined  to 
the  magnates  of  the  kingdom,  the  townsfolk  who  were  able 
to  pay  a  £10  annual  rental,  and  the  wealthier  copyholders 
and  leaseholders  of  rural  districts. 

From  the  radical  leaders  and  from  the  laboring  masses 
arose  insistent  demand  for  further  reform.  Especially  was 
it  urged  that  the  electoral  changes  of  1832  be  carried  to  what 
was  avowed  to  be  their  logical  conclusion,  i.e.,  the  establish- 


THE   GROWTH  OF   ENGLISH  DEMOCRACY  141 

ment  of  equal  parliamentary  districts  and  of  manhood  suf- 
frage. The  attitude  of  the  ruling  classes,  however,  was  dis- 
tinctly unfavorable.  Whigs  and  Tories  alike  maintained 
that  further  innovation  could  not  be  contemplated.  In  the 
course  of  debates  occasioned  by  the  introduction  of  franchise- 
extension  amendments  to  the  first  Speech  from  the  Throne 
following  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria,  in  1837,  Lord  John 
Russell  declared  that  the  Reform  of  1832  had  been  made  as 
extensive  as  possible  in  the  hope  that  it  might  be  final,  and 
that  any  reopening  of  the  question  would  imperil  the  stability 
of  English  institutions.  The  two  houses  of  Parliament  con- 
currently and  by  tremendous  majorities  refused  to  accord  the 
demands  of  the  reformers  any  sort  of  attention.  Between 
the  Radicals  and  the  Whigs  there  had  sprung  up  in  1832  a 
hazardous  affiliation ;  but  that  was  now  dissolved  and,  opposed 
by  the  forces  of  both  Whiggism  and  Toryism,  the  Radicals 
mustered  their  strength  for  a  titanic  battle  in  behalf  of  what 
seemed  the  key  to  all  things  else  desirable,  namely,  control  of 
the  national  law-making  body. 

The  upshot  was  a  remarkable  movement  which,  under  the 
name  of  Chartism,  imparted  an  ominous  aspect  to  the  first 
decade  of  the  new  reign.  The  era  of  the  Reform  of  1832  had 
been  fruitful  in  propagandist  organizations,  of  which  the 
most  notable  was  the  National  Political  Union,  established  in 
October,  1831,  and  it  is  to  this  period  that  the  programme, 
if  not  the  organization,  of  the  Chartists  is  to  be  traced.1 
A  circular  by  which  London  laboring  men  were  summoned 
to  a  mass  meeting  November  7,  1831,  enumerated  virtually 
all  the  "points"  which  eventually  found  a  place  in  the  Chart- 
ist creed.  In  1836  William  Lovett,  secretary  of  the  newly 
founded  London  Workingmen's  Association,  published  a 
pamphlet  entitled  The  Rotten  House  of  Commons,  in  which 

1  As  has  been  pointed  out  elsewhere,  however,  the  essentials  of  Chartism 
appeared  in  a  manifesto  of  the  Society  for  Constitutional  Information  organ* 
ized  in  1780.     See  p.  126. 


142    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

it  was  shown  from  official  returns  that,  in  a  total  adult  male 
population  of  6,023,752  in  the  United  Kingdom  there  were 
but  839,519  voters;  while  such  were  the  inequalities  of  con- 
stituencies that  20  members  were  returned  by  241 1  voters, 
while  20  others  represented  as  many  as  86,072.  Fortified  by 
these  facts,  the  founders  of  the  new  Workingmen's  Associa- 
tion convened  a  public  meeting  in  the  Strand,  attended  by 
some  3000  people,  at  which  unqualified  approval  was  accorded 
the  essential  principles  of  the  forthcoming  People's  Charter. 
The  instrument  was  given  formal  shape  and  sanction  by  the 
Association  immediately  preceding  the  accession  of  Victoria, 
and  a  committee  of  six  was  appointed  to  cooperate  with  the 
six  radical  members  of  Parliament  in  the  drafting  of  a  pro- 
posed measure  of  parliamentary  reform.  May  8,  1838,  the 
final  text  of  the  Charter,  embodying  a  simple  and  explicit 
summary  of  the  reform  programme,  was  made  public.  The 
Chartist  leaders  were  aiming  eventually  at  thoroughgoing 
social  and  industrial  amelioration,  but  the  indispensable 
means  to  this  end  they  conceived  to  be  the  liberalizing  of 
Parliament,  and  accordingly  the  Charter  was  confined  en- 
tirely to  demands  of  a  political  nature.  The  six  points  com- 
prised in  the  instrument  were:  (1)  universal  suffrage  for 
males  over  twenty-one  years  of  age;  (2)  equal  electoral  dis- 
tricts; (3)  vote  by  secret  ballot;  (4)  annual  sessions  of 
Parliament;  (5)  abolition  of  the  property  qualification  for 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons;  and  (6)  payment  of 
representatives.  A  bare  enumeration  of  these  demands  is 
sufficient  to  emphasize  the  political  backwardness  of  the 
England  of  seventy-five  years  ago.  Not  only  was  the  suffrage 
still  extremely  restricted  and  the  basis  of  representation  anti- 
quated ;  voting  was  oral  and  public,  and  only  men  who  were 
qualified  by  the  possession  of  property  were  eligible  for  elec- 
tion. 

Throughout  a  decade  the  Chartist  agitation  continued  the 
most  spectacular  aspect  of  English  affairs.     Every  known 


THE    GROWTH   OF  ENGLISH   DEMOCRACY  143 

mode  of  propaganda  was  exploited  to  the  utmost.  News- 
papers were  established,  as  Hetherington's  London  Despatch, 
Vincent's  Western  Vindicator,  Carpenter's  The  Charter,  and 
Feargus  O'Connor's  Northern  Star,  the  last-mentioned  of 
which  attained  a  circulation  of  50,000  copies  a  week.  Clubs 
were  organized.  Mass  meetings  and  processions  were  held. 
Petitions  and  memorials  were  formulated,  signed  by  thousands 
of  laborers,  and  submitted  to  Parliament.  In  1839  delegates 
from  scores  of  Chartist  clubs  and  gatherings  assembled  in 
national  convention  at  London  for  the  purpose  of  discussing 
matters  relating  to  the  progress  of  the  democratic  cause. 
Divergence  of  opinion,  already  in  evidence,  became  upon  this 
occasion  pronounced,  and  open  schism  led  to  the  withdrawal 
of  many  members  from  the  convention.  Plans  were  formu- 
lated, however,  in  accordance  with  which  a  National  Petition 
for  the  Charter  was  drawn  up  and,  June  14,  1839,  presented 
at  Westminster.  In  a  respectful  and  moderate  tone  the 
instrument  recommended  the  adoption  by  Parliament  of  five 
of  the  "six  points,"  the  demand  for  equal  electoral  districts 
being  upon  this  occasion  omitted.  The  document  was  pre- 
sented in  the  form  of  a  huge  parchment  roll,  bearing  the 
alleged  signatures  of  1,200,000  people,  and  was  borne  labori- 
ously, and  with  somewhat  ludicrous  effect,  into  the  House  of 
Commons  upon  the  backs  of  stalwart  attendants.  By  Par- 
liament the  petition  was  received  in  the  usual  manner,  and 
a  date  a  month  distant  was  set  for  the  hearing  of  a  detailed 
statement  of  the  Chartist  case. 

Before  the  date  arrived,  however,  a  series  of  riots  at  Bir- 
mingham and  elsewhere  cost  the  movement  such  sympathy  as 
it  had  awakened  in  official  circles,  and,  July  12,  the  Commons 
decisively  refused  even  to  accord  the  Chartist  petition  the 
proposed  consideration.  Lord  John  Russell  again  denied 
that  there  was  need  of  an  expansion  of  the  electorate  and 
accused  the  Chartists  of  promoting  disorder  in  the  hope  of 
bringing  about  a  redistribution  of  property.     The  rebuff 


144    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

was  followed  by  a  widespread  renewal  of  rioting;  but  the 
principal  sufferers  were  the  Chartists  themselves,  who  brought 
upon  their  leaders  the  rigor  of  the  law  and  at  the  same  time 
forfeited  the  sympathy  of  many  disinterested  people.  During 
1840-41  the  Chartist  movement  was  largely  quiescent ;  yet  in 
his  vigorous  work,  "  Chartism,"  written  during  this  interval, 
Carlyle  very  rightly  affirmed:  "The  matter  of  Chartism  is 
weighty,  deep-rooted,  far-extending;  did  not  begin  yester- 
day; will  by  no  means  end  this  day  or  to-morrow." 

The  years  1840-45  were  in  England  a  period  of  severe 
economic  tension  and  of  serious  labor  disturbances.  In 
1842,  when  the  public  unrest  was  at  its  height,  the  Chartists 
presented  to  the  House  of  Commons  a  second  petition.  In 
it  demand  was  made,  not  only  that  the  six  points  be  adopted, 
but  that  monopolies  be  abolished,  that  all  class  legislation 
be  repealed,  that  property  be  redistributed,  and  that  the  union 
between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  be  terminated.  Natu- 
rally enough,  this  memorial  likewise  went  unanswered.  A 
fresh  series  of  Chartist  and  labor  outbreaks,  however,  con- 
vinced the  authorities  that  some  concession,  of  an  economic 
rather  than  a  political  character,  ought  to  be  made.  The 
most  immediate  demand,  not  simply  of  the  working  classes 
but  also  of  an  influential  and  growing  free  trade  party  led 
by  Richard  Cobden  and  John  Bright,  was  for  the  repeal 
of  the  customs  duties,  notably  those  on  grain,  whereby  the 
price  of  breadstuffs  and  of  other  necessities  was  kept  at  an 
artificial  level.  The  campaign  against  the  Corn  Laws 
started  by  the  economists  as  early  as  1833,  set  in  on  a  large 
scale  with  the  organization  in  1838  of  the  Manchester  Corn 
Law  Association  and,  in  the  next  year,  of  the  Anti-Corn 
Law  League.  In  1840  a  special  parliamentary  committee 
submitted  a  report  on  foreign  commerce  which  is  worthy  of 
being  regarded  as  the  charter  of  English  free  trade.  The 
Whigs  timidly  undertook  a  modification  of  duties,  but  were 
obliged  before  the  work  had  been  carried  far  to  give  place  to 


THE   GROWTH   OF  ENGLISH  DEMOCRACY         145 

the  Tories.  In  1842  the  Tory  government  of  Peel  carried 
through  Parliament  a  momentous  measure  whereby  all 
remaining  export  duties  were  abolished,  the  import  duties 
on  750  kinds  of  manufactured  articles  consumed  in  Great 
Britain  were  reduced,  and  a  sliding  scale  was  arranged  in 
accordance  with  which  the  duty  on  imported  grain  was  to 
be  made  to  rise  and  fall  inversely  with  the  price  of  the  home- 
grown commodity.  The  diminution  of  revenue  arising  from 
these  changes  was  compensated  by  the  levy  of  a  tax  upon 
incomes.  Four  years  of  continued  poor  crops,  including  the 
first  phases  of  the  great  potato  famine  in  Ireland,  compelled 
the  granting  of  still  more  extended  relief,  and  in  1846,  opposed 
in  the  Commons  by  two  hundred  of  his  own  party,  Peel 
procured  the  passage  of  a  measure  whereby  the  obnoxious 
Corn  Laws  were  swept  away  absolutely.  The  price  of 
grain  forthwith  fell,  and  the  laboring  masses  profited  incal- 
culably. 

For  a  variety  of  reasons  Chartism  during  the  period 
1842-48  was  at  a  low  ebb.  In  the  first  place,  there  was 
the  widest  disagreement  among  the  Chartists  themselves 
in  respect  to  both  aims  and  methods.  In  the  original  pro- 
gramme, new  issues,  as  that  of  home  rule  for  Ireland,  were 
constantly  being  injected,  and  the  inevitable  consequence 
was  to  alienate  supporters  and  to  dissipate  the  energies  of 
the  movement.  The  aims  of  many  of  the  Chartists  were 
essentially  visionary.  We  have  it  from  one  Radical  orator 
of  the  time  that  universal  suffrage  means  that  "every 
working-man  in  the  land  has  a  right  to  a  good  coat,  a  good 
roof,  a  good  dinner,  no  more  work  than  will  keep  him  in 
good  health,  and  as  much  wages  as  will  keep  him  in  plenty." 
In  the  matter  of  methods  the  line  was  drawn  sharply  between 
the  "moral  force"  and  the  "physical  force"  wings  of  the 
reformers.  Men  who  adhered  to  the  former  were  charged 
by  their  more  aggressive  comrades  with  lukewarmness,  while 
the  aggressives  were  charged  by  the  moderates  with  involv- 

L 


146    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

ing  the  cause  in  discredit  and  failure.  In  1842,  furthermore, 
there  was  set  on  foot  a  "complete-suffrage"  propaganda, 
associated  principally  with  the  name  of  Joseph  Sturge,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  attain  the  essential  end  of  Chartism, 
but  by  independent  and  purely  legal  means;  and  while  for 
a  time  effort  was  made  to  maintain  an  affiliation  between  the 
older  and  the  younger  movements,  the  relations  between  the 
two  were  never  wholly  agreeable,  and  the  division  of  forces 
operated  further  to  weaken  the  Chartist  cause. 

At  one  time  only  after  1842  did  Chartism  assume  really 
threatening  proportions.  That  was  in  1848,  when,  under 
stimulus  of  the  revolutionary  wave  then  sweeping  the  con- 
tinent, the  Chartist  propaganda  was  renewed  in  England 
upon  a  scale  commensurate  with  that  of  1838-39.  April  4, 
there  was  assembled  at  London  a  new  national  convention 
of  Chartist  delegates.  Plans  were  laid  for  a  monster  demon- 
stration on  Kennington  Common  six  days  later,  and  a 
gigantic  petition  was  made  ready  to  be  carried  to  West- 
minster by  a  body  of  500,000  men.  The  government  became 
apprehensive.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  was  put  in  command 
of  the  defences  of  the  city  and  active  preparations  were  made 
to  meet  force  with  force.  On  the  day  fixed,  only  some 
25,000  persons  gathered  at  the  Common.  Lacking  in  con- 
certed plans  and  disheartened  by  the  government's  precau- 
tions, the  leaders  permitted  their  petition  to  be  conveyed  to 
the  House  of  Commons  prosaically  enough  through  back 
streets  in  a  cab.  It  had  been  claimed  that  the  petition  bore 
5,000,000  signatures,  but  upon  scrutiny  the  number  was 
found  to  be  not  beyond  2,000,000,  including  a  considerable 
proportion  of  palpable  forgeries. 

For  all  practical  purposes,  the  fiasco  of  April  10  marked 
the  collapse  of  Chartism.  At  no  time  had  the  reform  move- 
ment been  coordinated  or  capably  led.  Now  the  recrimina- 
tions of  the  disappointed  and  discredited  leaders  cost  the 
movement  whatever  chance  of  survival  it  possessed.    The 


THE   GROWTH  OF  ENGLISH  DEMOCRACY  147 

hold  of  Chartism  upon  the  masses  was  relaxed,  not  merely 
by  reason  of  its  repeated  failures,  but  in  consequence  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  and  the  enactment  of  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury's ten-hour  day  for  women  and  young  persons  in  factories 
—  a  measure  which  was  put  in  effect  May  1,  1848.  The 
procuring  from  Parliament  of  two  such  boons  as  cheap 
bread  and  shorter  hours  of  labor  robbed  of  its  power  of 
appeal  the  argument  which  had  been  made  that  Parliament 
as  constituted  was  wholly  indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  the 
masses  and  ought  to  be  proceeded  against  with  violence. 
After  1848  the  desultory  efforts  of  the  Chartists  were  absorbed 
largely  by  trade-unions  and  cooperative  movements,  and 
the  gospel  of  violence  which  the  advocates  of  physical  force 
had  not  hesitated  to  preach  gave  place  to  the  more  whole- 
some philosophy  of  Maurice,  Kingsley,  Hughes,  and  the 
lesser  lights  of  the  new  Christian  Socialist  school.  The 
fundamental  criticism  of  the  existing  political  order  upon 
which  Chartism  was  based  was  well  enough  justified,  but 
the  demands  which  the  reformers  placed  at  the  head  of  their 
programme  were  too  radical  to  enlist  the  ready  support  of 
conservative  people,  and  the  methods  which  many  of  them 
advocated  or  countenanced  savored  too  much  of  continental 
revolutionary  tactics.  In  more  recent  days  most  of  the 
"six  points"  have  been  carried  into  effect,  and  unquestion- 
ably the  Chartist  agitation  helped  prepare  the  way  for  a 
broader  franchise,  the  further  adjustment  of  representation 
to  population,  and  the  secret  ballot.  But  when,  eventually, 
these  things  were  brought  about,  the  Chartist  movement 
was  but  a  memory. 

The  second  great  measure  by  which  political  democracy 
was  advanced  in  England  during  the  nineteenth  century 
was  the  Reform  Act  of  1867.  The  passage  of  this  act  was 
preceded  by  a  decade  and  a  half  of  agitation,  but  of  a  notably 
milder  character  than  that  of  the  Chartist  period.  In  1858 
the  Conservative  government  of  Lord  Derby  acquiesced  in 


148    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  enactment  of  a  measure  by  which  were  abolished  all 
property  qualifications  hitherto  required  of  English,  Welsh, 
and  Irish  members,  and  thus  was  met  one  of  the  minor 
though  yet  important  Chartist  demands.  Between  1851 
and  1865  no  fewer  than  eight  measures  looking  toward  the 
reform  of  the  House  of  Commons  were  introduced,  though 
none  seriously  approached  adoption.  Lord  John  Russell, 
while  abandoning  the  attitude  which  in  1837  had  won  him 
the  sobriquet  "Finality  Jack,"  still  urged  postponement 
of  the  issue  as  ^,n  alternative  to  "dragging  an  imperfect 
measure  through  a  reluctant  Parliament  and  enforcing 
it  on  an  unwilling  country"  ;  and  the  Conservative  leader, 
Palmerston,  characterized  any  reduction  of  the  £50  county 
franchise  as  "a  leap  in  the  dark."  In  1864  Gladstone, 
on  the  other  hand,  voiced  the  judgment  of  many  people 
when  he  declared  that  parliamentary  reform  ought  not  to 
be  left  until  the  country  should  be  rent  by  agitation  in  its 
behalf,  and  that  agitation  should  be  forestalled  by  carefully 
considered  and  provident  measures. 

After  the  death  of  Palmerston  in  1865  the  reform  issue 
fast  forced  itself  into  the  political  foreground.  During  the 
year  mentioned,  a  reconstituted  Liberal  party,  led  by  Glad- 
stone, took  over  in  part  the  doctrines  of  the  Radicals,  aban- 
doned the  party's  traditional  laissez  faire  attitude,  and  set 
up  a  programme  of  "peace,  retrenchment,  and  reform," 
in  which  the  broadening  of  the  franchise  was  assigned  a  place 
of  prominence.  At  the  same  time  the  Conservative  party, 
under  the  leadership  of  Disraeli,  committed  itself,  less 
unreservedly,  but  none  the  less  effectually,  to  the  same  sort 
of  reform.  In  1866  the  Russell-Gladstone  government 
brought  in  a  reform  bill  by  which  the  electorate  was  to  be 
enlarged  by  400,000.  Through  the  tactics,  however,  of  a 
reactionary  Liberal  group,  the  measure  was  wrecked,  and  its 
authors  were  driven  to  resign.  The  succeeding  Derby- 
Disraeli  ministry,  bent  upon  "dishing  the   Whigs,"  intra- 


THE   GROWTH  OF  ENGLISH  DEMOCRACY  149 

duced  forthwith  a  new  electoral  bill.  In  its  original  form  the 
measure  was  "  safe  and  moderate"  ;  but  with  the  purpose  of 
convincing  the  rank  and  file  of  the  nation  that  the  Con- 
servatives, after  all,  were  their  best  friends,  Disraeli  flung 
away  the  securities  which  made  the  new  bill  at  its  intro- 
duction tolerable  to  his  supporters  and,  to  the  amazement 
of  friends  and  foes  alike,  carried  a  project  of  a  more  thor- 
oughgoing character  than  anybody  save  uncompromising 
Radicals  had  ever  asked  or  desired ;  and,  August  15,  1867, 
the  measure  became  law. 

The  act  of  1867  affected  but  slightly  the  distribution  of 
parliamentary  seats.  The  total  number  of  seats  (658) 
remained  unchanged.  Ireland's  quota  remained  105,  Scot- 
land's was  raised  from  54  to  60,  while  that  of  England  and 
Wales  was  decreased  from  499  to  493.  Of  the  last- mentioned 
number,  162  were  allotted  to  counties,  326  to  boroughs, 
and  5  to  universities.  In  the  allotment  n  boroughs  lost 
their  seats,  and  35  others  were  reduced  from  two  members 
to  one.  The  seats  thus  gained  were  bestowed  upon  boroughs 
and  counties  whose  populations  rendered  them  deserving. 
In  England  and  Wales  the  county  franchise  was  guaranteed 
to  men  whose  freehold  was  of  the  value  of  forty  shillings  a 
year,  to  copyholders  and  leaseholders  of  the  annual  value 
of  £5,  and  to  householders  whose  rent  amounted  to  not  less 
than  £12  a  year.  The  twelve-pound  occupation  franchise 
was  new,1  and  the  qualification  for  copyholders  and  lease- 
holders was  reduced  from  £10  to  £5 ;  otherwise  the  county 
franchise  was  unchanged.  The  borough  franchise  was 
modified  profoundly.  Heretofore  only  householders  who 
occupied  houses  worth  £10  a  year  were  entitled  to  vote. 
Now  the  right  was  conferred  upon  every  man  who  occupied, 
as  owner  or  as  tenant,  for  twelve  months,  a  dwelling-house, 
or  any  portion  thereof  utilized  as  a  separate  dwelling,  with- 

1  It  may  be  regarded,  however,  as  taking  the  place  of  the  fifty-pound  rental 
franchise. 


150    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

out  regard  to  its  value.  Another  newly  established  franchise 
admitted  to  the  voting  privilege  all  lodgers  occupying  for 
as  much  as  a  year  rooms  of  the  clear  value,  unfurnished,  of 
£10  a  year.  The  effect  of  these  provisions  was  to  enfranchise 
the  urban  working  population,  even  as  the  act  of  1832  had 
enfranchised  principally  the  urban  middle  class.  So  broad, 
indeed,  did  the  urban  franchise  at  this  point  become  that 
little  room  was  left  for  its  modification  subsequently.  As 
originally  planned,  Disraeli's  measure  would  have  enlarged  the 
electorate  by  not  more  than  one  hundred  thousand ;  as  amended 
and  carried,  it  practically  doubled  the  voting  population, 
raising  it  from  1,370,793  immediately  prior  to  1867  to  2,526,423 
in  1871.1  By  the  act  of  1832  the  middle  classes  had  been 
enfranchised;  by  that  of  1867  political  power  was  thrown 
in  no  small  degree  into  the  hands  of  the  masses.  Only  two 
large  groups  of  people  remained  still  outside  the  pale  of 
political  influence  —  the  agricultural  laborers  and  the 
miners. 

In  1868  the  Liberals  returned  to  power,  and  under  Glad- 
stone's leadership  the  fruits  of  the  late  reform  became 
immediately  manifest  in  a  notable  series  of  ameliorating 
measures  comparable  with  that  by  which  a  generation  earlier 
the  reform  of  1832  had  been  followed.  In  1869  the  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Church  was  disestablished  in  Ireland,  and  in 
1870  an  Irish  land  act  marked  the  first  serious  effort  to 
adjust  the  immemorial  grievances  between  landlord  and 
tenant  in  that  portion  of  the  realm.  In  1870,  also,  was  passed 
the  Elementary  Education  Act,  authorizing  a  notable  exten- 
sion of  public  provision  for,  and  public  control  of,  primary 
schools.  A  law  of  1871  provided  for  the  incorporating  of 
trade-unions  and  the  legalizing  of  strikes.    And  in  1872  was 

1  It  is  to  be  observed  that  these  figures  are  for  the  United  Kingdom  as  a 
whole,  embracing  the  results  not  merely  of  the  act  of  1867  applying  to  England 
and  Wales,  but  of  the  two  acts  of  1868  introducing  similar,  though  not  identical, 
changes  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 


THE   GROWTH  OF  ENGLISH  DEMOCRACY  151 

passed  the  Ballot  Act,  whereby  secrecy  in  parliamentary 
elections  was  first  established  and  an  effective  check  upon 
bribery  was  instituted. 

That  the  qualifications  for  voting  in  one  class  of  constit- 
uencies should  be  conspicuously  more  liberal  than  in  another 
class  was  an  anomaly,  and  in  a  period  when  anomalies  were 
at  last  being  eliminated  from  the  English  electoral  system 
remedy  could  not  be  long  delayed.  February  5,  1884, 
the  second  Gladstone  ministry  redeemed  a  campaign  pledge 
by  introducing  a  bill  granting  the  counties  the  same  electoral 
regulations  that  had  been  extended  in  1867  to  the  towns. 
The  measure  passed  the  Commons,  but  was  rejected  by  the 
Lords  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it  was  not  accompanied 
by  a  bill  for  the  redistribution  of  seats.  By  an  agreement 
between  the  two  houses  a  threatened  deadlock  was  averted, 
and  the  upshot  was  that  before  the  end  of  the  year  the  Lords 
accepted  the  government's  bill,  on  the  understanding  that 
its  passage  was  to  be  followed  immediately  by  the  intro- 
duction of  a  redistribution  measure.  The  Representation 
of  the  People  Act  of  1884  is  in  form  disjointed  and  difficult 
to  understand,  but  the  effect  of  it  is  clear  and  simple.  By  it 
there  was  established  a  uniform  household  franchise  and  a 
uniform  lodger  franchise  in  all  counties  and  boroughs  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  The  occupation  of  any  land  or  tenement 
of  a  clear  annual  value  of  £10  was  made  a  qualification  in 
boroughs  and  counties  alike ;  and  persons  occupying  a  house 
by  virtue  of  office  or  employment  were  to  be  deemed  "occu- 
piers" for  the  purpose  of  the  act.  The  measure  doubled  the 
county  electorate  and  increased  the  total  electorate  by  some 
2,000,000,  or  approximately  40  per  cent.  Its  most  impor- 
tant effect  was  to  enfranchise  the  workingman  in  the  country, 
as  the  act  of  1867  had  enfranchised  the  workingman  in  the 
town. 

In  1885,  the  two  great  parties  cooperating,  there  was  passed 
the  Redistribution  of  Seats  Act  which  had  been  promised. 


152    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

Now  for  the  first  time  in  English  history  attempt  was  made 
to  apportion  representation  in  the  House  of  Commons  in 
something  like  strict  accordance  with  population  densities. 
In  the  first  place,  the  total  number  of  members  was  increased 
from  658  to  670,  and  of  the  number  103  were  allotted  to 
Ireland,  72  to  Scotland,  and  495  to  England  and  Wales. 
In  the  next  place,  the  method  by  which  former  redistribu- 
tions had  been  accomplished,  i.e.,  transferring  seats  more 
or  less  arbitrarily  from  flagrantly  over-represented  boroughs 
to  more  populous  boroughs  and  counties,  was  replaced  by  a 
method  based  upon  the  principle  of  equal  electoral  con- 
stituencies, each  returning  one  member.  In  theory  a  con- 
stituency comprised  50,000  people.  Boroughs  containing 
fewer  than  15,000  inhabitants  were  disfranchised  as  boroughs, 
becoming  for  electoral  purposes  portions  of  the  counties  in 
which  they  were  located.  Boroughs  of  between  15,000 
and  50,000  inhabitants  were  allowed  to  retain,  or  if  pre- 
viously unrepresented  were  given,  one  member  each.  Those 
of  between  50,000  and  165,000  were  given  two  members, 
and  those  of  more  than  165,000  three,  with  one  in  addition 
for  every  additional  50,000  people.  The  same  general 
principle  was  followed  in  the  counties.  Thus  the  city  of 
Liverpool,  which  prior  to  1885  sent  three  members  to  Par- 
liament, fell  into  nine  constituencies,  each  returning  one 
member,  and  the  great  northern  county  of  Lancashire, 
which  since  1867  had  been  divided  into  four  portions,  each 
returning  two  members,  was  now  split  into  twenty-three 
divisions  with  one  member  each.  The  boroughs  which  prior 
to  1885  elected  two  members,  and  at  the  redistribution  re- 
tained that  number,  remained  single  constituencies  for  the 
election  of  those  two  members.  Of  these  boroughs  there 
are  to-day  twenty-three.  They,  together  with  the  city  of 
London  and  the  three  universities  of  Oxford,  Cambridge, 
and  Dublin,  comprise  the  existing  twenty-seven  two-member 
constituencies.     By  partition   of   the   counties,   of   the   old 


THE   GROWTH   OF   ENGLISH  DEMOCRACY  153 

boroughs  having  more  than  two  members,  and  of  the  new 
boroughs  with  only  two  members,  all  save  these  twenty- 
seven  constituencies  have  been  erected  into  separate,  single- 
member  electoral  divisions,  each  with  its  own  name  and 
identity. 

By  the  measures  of  1884  and  1885  Great  Britain  was 
brought  to  the  verge  of  thoroughgoing  democracy.1  Both 
measures  stand  to-day  upon  the  statute-books,  and  neither 
has  been  amended  in  any  important  particular.  The  fran- 
chise, while  substantially  uniform  throughout  the  realm,  in 
point  of  fact  is  the  most  complicated  in  Europe.  Now,  as 
ever,  the  right  to  vote  is  not  personal,  but  is  dependent 
upon  the  ownership  or  occupation  of  land  or  of  a  dwelling- 
place.  There  are  three  important  franchises  that  are  uni- 
versal and  two  that  are  not.  In  the  first  group  are  included 
(1)  occupancy,  as  owner  or  tenant,  of  land  or  tenement  of 
a  clear  yearly  value  of  £10;  (2)  occupancy,  as  owner  or 
tenant,  of  a  dwelling-house,  or  part  of  a  house  used  as  a 
separate  dwelling,  without  regard  to  its  value ;  and  (3)  occu- 
pancy of  lodgings  of  the  value,  unfurnished,  of  £10  a  year. 
The  two  franchises  which  are  not  universal  are  (1)  ownership 
of  land  of  forty  shillings  yearly  value  or  occupation  of  land 
under  certain  other  specified  conditions  —  this  being  appli- 
cable only  to  counties  and  to  a  small  extent  to  boroughs 
which  are  counties  in  themselves;  and  (2)  residence  of 
freemen  in  those  towns  in  which  they  had  a  right  to  vote 
prior  to  1832.  The  conditions  and  exceptions  by  which  all 
of  these  various  franchises  are  attended  are  so  numerous 
that  few  people  in  England  save  lawyers  make  a  pretence 
of  knowing  them  all.  The  volume  of  litigation  which  con- 
stantly arises  with  respect  to  the  distinction  between  "house 

1  It  may  be  noted  that  the  democratic  trend  of  this  decade  was  further  accen- 
tuated by  the  enactment  in  1888  of  Lord  Salisbury's  Local  Government  Bily, 
whereby  there  was  introduced  into  the  counties  and  a  few  large  boroughs  (in- 
cluding London)  an  electoral  system  based  on  household  suffrage.  In  1894 
the  principle  was  extended  to  rural  parishes  having  a  population  of  300  or  mora 


154    SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

holder"  and  " lodger,"  and  other  technicalities  of  the  subject, 
is  enormous.  At  no  time  has  effort  been  made  to  reduce 
existing  laws  to  a  complete  code.  A  logical  step  —  but  one 
for  which,  until  lately  at  least,  there  has  been  small  demand 
—  would  be  the  adoption  of  a  general  manhood  franchise, 
restricted  only  by  qualifications  of  age,  residence,  and,  if 
desired,  tax-paying  capacity.  The  aggregate  of  the  exist- 
ing franchise  is  but  little  short  of  the  result  that  would 
in  this  way  be  attained.  The  calculations  of  Lowell 
show  that  the  ratio  of  electors  to  population  is  about 
one  in  six,  whereas  the  normal  proportion  of  males  above 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  making  no  allowance  for  paupers, 
criminals,  and  other  persons  disqualified  by  the  law  of  most 
countries,  is  somewhat  less  than  one  in  four.1  The  only 
classes  of  adult  males  at  present  excluded  from  the  voting 
privilege  are  domestic  servants,  bachelors  living  with  their 
parents  and  occupying  no  premises  on  their  own  account, 
and  persons  whose  change  of  abode  periodically  deprives 
them  of  a  vote. 

There  are  those  by  whom  it  is  demanded  that  a  compli- 
cated, haphazard,  and  costly  franchise  system  be  replaced 
by  a  system  which  shall  be  rational  and  simple,  but  the 
suffrage  questions  of  largest  weight  in  Great  Britain  to-day 
are  those  relating  to  the  extension  of  the  franchise  to  women 
and  the  abolition  of  plural  voting.  It  is  a  fact  not  familiarly 
known  that  English  women,  under  certain  conditions,  were 
once  in  possession  of  the  suffrage.  It  was  not,  indeed, 
until  1832  that  Parliament  so  modified  the  franchise  that  it 
became  applicable  exclusively  to  men.  The  first  attempt 
made  in  Parliament  to  restore  and  extend  the  female  fran- 
chise was  that  of  John  Stuart  Mill  in  1867.  His  proposed 
amendment  to  the  reform  bill  of  that  year  was  defeated  by 
a  vote  of  196  to  73.  In  1870  a  woman's  suffrage  measure 
drafted  by  Dr.   Pankhurst  and  introduced  by  John  Bright 

'Lowell,  "Government  of  England,"  I.,  213. 


THE   GROWTH  OF  ENGLISH  DEMOCRACY  155 

passed  its  second  reading  by  a  majority  of  33,  but  was  sub- 
sequently rejected.  During  the  seventies  and  early  eighties 
a  vigorous  propaganda  was  maintained  and  almost  every 
session  produced  its  crop  of  woman's  suffrage  bills.  A  deter- 
mined attempt  was  made  to  secure  the  inclusion  of  a  woman's 
suffrage  clause  in  the  reform  bill  of  1884.  The  proposed 
amendment  was  supported  very  generally  by  the  press,  but 
in  consequence  of  a  threat  by  Gladstone  to  the  effect  that  if 
the  amendment  were  carried  the  entire  measure  would  be 
withdrawn,  the  project  was  abandoned.  The  latest  chapter 
in  the  history  of  the  movement  was  inaugurated  by  the 
organization,  in  1903,  of  the  Women's  Social  and  Political 
Union.  Since  the  date  mentioned  the  movement  has  made 
substantial  headway,  and  by  the  spectacular  character 
which  it  has  assumed  it  has  attracted  widespread  attention. 
There  is,  however,  no  prospect  of  its  early  success,  and  con- 
cerning it  nothing  more  need  be  said,  save  perhaps  that  it 
has  opened  the  entire  question  of  the  precise  basis  upon  which 
the  franchise,  for  both  men  and  women,  should  be  construed 
to  rest. 

The  problem  of  the  plural  vote  is  an  old  one.  Under 
existing  law  an  elector  is  entitled  to  vote  in  every  constit- 
uency in  which  he  possesses  the  requisite  qualifications. 
In  the  United  States  and  in  the  majority  of  continental 
countries  a  man  possesses  but  one  vote,  and  such  a  rule 
would  seem  an  essential  of  democratic  government.  In 
England  there  have  been  repeated  efforts  to  bring  about  the 
establishment  of  the  uniform  principle  of  "one  man,  one 
vote,"  but  never  with  success.  The  plural  vote  as  it  operates 
to-day  benefits  principally  the  Conservatives,  and  naturally 
the  Liberals  are  its  opponents.  Following  the  triumph  of 
the  Liberals  at  the  elections  of  1906  a  measure  was  introduced 
requiring  that  every  elector  possessed  of  more  than  one  vote 
should  be  registered  in  the  constituency  of  his  choice  and  in 
no  other.    The  bill  passed  the  Commons,  but  was  defeated 


156    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

by  the  Conservative  majority  in  the  Lords.  The  number  oi 
plural  votes  actually  cast  at  an  election  is  not  large  abso- 
lutely, but  in  many  constituencies  it  is  sufficient  to  turn  the 
scale  as  between  two  closely  contesting  candidates. 

Still  other  questions  there  are  with  respect  to  English 
electoral  reform.  One  of  them  pertains  to  the  fresh  dis- 
tribution of  parliamentary  seats.  As  has  been  pointed  out, 
the  Redistribution  of  Seats  Act  of  1885  established  constit- 
uencies in  which  there  was  some  approach  to  equality. 
The  principle  was  far  from  completely  carried  out.  For 
example,  the  newly  created  borough  of  Chelsea  contained 
upwards  of  90,000  people,  while  the  old  borough  of  Windsor 
had  fewer  than  20,000.  But  the  inequalities  left  untouched 
by  the  Act  were  slight  in  comparison  with  those  which  have 
arisen  during  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  which  there  has  been 
no  reapportionment  whatever.  In  1901  the  least  populous 
constituency  of  the  United  Kingdom,  the  borough  of  Newry 
in  Ireland,  contained  but  13,137  people,  while  the  southern 
division  of  the  county  of  Essex  contained  217,030;  yet  each 
was  represented  by  a  single  member.  This  means,  of  course, 
a  very  pronounced  disparity  in  the  weight  of  the  popular 
votes,  and  under  the  slogan  "one  vote,  one  value"  there 
has  been  carried  on  in  some  quarters  an  active  propaganda 
in  behalf  of  a  new  apportionment  of  members  to  constituen- 
cies. On  the  eve  of  its  fall  in  1905  the  Balfour  government 
submitted  preliminary  resolutions  looking  to  this  end,  but 
there  was  no  opportunity  to  press  the  proposition.  A  special 
difficulty  is  imposed  by  the  peculiar  situation  in  Ireland. 
By  reason  of  the  decline  of  Ireland's  population  during  the 
past  decades,  that  portion  of  the  United  Kingdom  has  come 
to  be  grossly  over-represented.  The  average  Irish  commoner 
sits  for  but  44,147  people,  while  the  average  English  member 
represents  66,971.  If  a  new  distribution  were  made  in  strict 
proportion  to  numbers  Ireland  would  lose  30  seats  and  Wales 
3,  while  Scotland  would  gain  one  and  England  about  30. 


THE   GROWTH  OF  ENGLISH  DEMOCRACY  157 

To  so  sharp  a  reduction  of  the  Irish  quota  the  opposition 
would  be  exceedingly  keen;  and  there  is  the  further  very 
practical  obstacle  that  the  Act  of  Union  of  1801  effectually 
guarantees  to  Ireland  as  many  as  100  parliamentary  members. 

Several  changes  thus  remain  to  be  brought  about  before 
Great  Britain  shall  have  realized  to  the  full  the  thorough- 
going democracy  which  she  already  possesses  in  so  pre- 
eminent a  degree.  On  the  other  hand,  two  or  three  positive 
achievements,  in  addition  to  those  that  have  been  mentioned, 
should  not  be  overlooked.  One  that  has  been  referred  to 
already  is  the  introduction,  in  1872,  of  the  secret  ballot  in 
parliamentary  elections.  Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  Ballot 
Act,  members  were  elected  by  means  of  a  poll  taken  publicly, 
affording  every  opportunity  for  bribery,  intimidation,  and 
disorder.  Nowadays  all  save  the  few  representatives  of  the 
universities  are  chosen  under  the  Australian  system,  insuring 
both  secrecy  and  greater  orderliness  at  the  polls.  By  three 
different  means,  furthermore,  the  attainment  of  a  seat  at 
Westminster  has  been  brought  within  the  range  of  possibility 
for  increasing  numbers  of  people.  In  the  first  place,  the 
formal  qualifications  of  members  have  been  materially  re- 
duced. The  qualification  of  residence  was  replaced  in  the 
eighteenth  century  by  a  property  qualification ;  but,  as  has 
been  pointed  out,  in  1858  this  likewise  was  swept  away. 
Oaths  of  allegiance  and  oaths  imposing  religious  tests  once 
operated  to  debar  many,  but  all  that  is  now  required  of  a 
member  is  a  very  simple  oath  or  affirmation  of  allegiance,  in 
a  form  compatible  with  any  shade  of  religious  belief  or  un- 
belief. Any  male  British  subject  who  is  of  age  is  qualified 
for  election,  unless  he  belongs  to  one  of  a  few  small  groups 
—  notably  peers  (except  Irish) ;  clergy  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  Church  of  Scotland ; 
certain  kinds  of  office-holders ;  bankrupts ;  and  persons  con- 
victed of  treason,  felony,  or  corrupt  practices. 

In  the  second  place,  the  democratization  of  Parliament 


158    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

has  been  promoted  by  the  imposition  upon  candidates  of 
limitations  in  respect  to  their  outlays  of  money  upon  elec- 
tions. In  1883  there  was  passed  a  memorable  statute  known 
as  the  Corrupt  and  Illegal  Practices  Act  by  which  bribery 
and  treating  were  declared  illegal  and  the  maximum  of 
legitimate  campaign  expenditures  was  regulated  upon  a 
sliding  scale  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  constituencies. 
With  a  few  modifications,  this  measure  is  still  in  operation. 
In  boroughs  containing  not  more  than  2000  registered  voters, 
the  largest  amount  which  a  parliamentary  candidate  may 
legitimately  spend  in  an  election  is  £350,  with  an  additional 
£30  for  every  thousand  voters  above  the  number  mentioned. 
In  rural  constituencies,  where  proper  outlays  will  normally 
be  larger,  the  sum  of  £650  is  allowed  when  the  number  of 
registered  electors  falls  under  2000,  with  £60  for  each  addi- 
tional thousand.  Beyond  these  amounts  the  candidate  is 
allowed  an  outlay  of  £100  for  expenses  of  a  purely  personal 
character.  The  range  of  expenditure  which  is  thus  per- 
mitted by  law  is,  of  course,  large,  and  the  records  of  election 
cases  brought  into  the  courts  demonstrate  that  not  infre- 
quently in  practice  its  limits  are  exceeded.  None  the  less, 
the  effect  of  the  law  has  been  undeniably  to  restrain  the 
outpouring  of  money  by  candidates,  to  purify  politics,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  enable  men  of  moderate  means  to  stand 
for  election  who  otherwise  would  possess  no  chance  whatever 
as  against  their  wealthier  and  more  lavish  competitors. 

Until  recently  the  fact  that  there  was  no  salary  attached 
to  service  in  Parliament  operated  to  debar  from  membership 
all  save  the  well-to-do.  Through  some  years  the  Labor 
party  has  been  accustomed  to  provide  the  means  whereby 
its  representatives  are  enabled  to  maintain  themselves  in  the 
Commons,  but  this  arrangement  has  affected  but  a  small 
group  of  members,  and  is  of  a  private  rather  than  a  public 
nature.  Payment  of  members,  to  the  end  that  poor  but 
capable  men  might  no  longer  be  kept  out  of  the  Commons, 


THE   GROWTH  OF  ENGLISH  DEMOCRACY  159 

was  demanded  by  the  Chartists  three-quarters  of  a  century 
ago,  and  from  time  to  time  since  there  has  been  agitation 
in  behalf  of  the  suggested  policy.  But  it  was  not  until  191 1 
that  a  measure  upon  the  subject  could  be  got  through  Parlia- 
ment. Fresh  impetus  was  given  by  the  Osborne  Judgment, 
in  which,  on  an  appeal  from  the  lower  courts,  the  House  of 
Lords  ruled,  in  December,  1909,  that  the  payment  of  par 
liamentary  members  as  such  from  the  funds  of  labor  organi- 
zations is  contrary  to  law.  The  announcement  of  this 
verdict  was  followed  by  persistent  agitation  for  legislation 
to  reverse  the  ruling.  In  the  budget  presented  to  the  Com- 
mons by  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  May  16,  191 1, 
the  proposition  was  made,  not  to  take  action  one  way  or  the 
other  upon  the  Lords'  decision,  but  to  provide  for  the  pay- 
ment to  all  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  of  a  yearly 
salary  of  £400 ;  and  with  no  great  delay  or  opposition  the 
proposal  was  enacted  into  law.  The  amount  of  the  salary 
provided  is  not  large,  but  it  is  ample  to  render  candidacy  for 
seats  possible  for  many  men  who  heretofore  could  not  under 
any  circumstances  have  contemplated  a  public  career. 


CHAPTER  XI 

POPULAR  GOVERNMENT  IN  GERMANY  AND  NORTHERN  EUROPE 

The  growth  of  the  political  power  of  the  people  of  conti- 
nental Europe  since  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  is 
one  of  the  phenomena  of  modern  times.  Prior  to  the  French 
Revolution  there  were  not  more  than  four  or  five  states  on 
the  continent  in  which  the  people  can  be  said  to  have  exer- 
cised any  substantial  control  over  public  affairs,  and  even 
in  these  —  notably  Holland,  Sweden,  and  Hungary  — 
political  influence  was  possessed  by  only  an  insignificant 
proportion  of  the  total  population  and  was  wielded  in  only 
an  indirect  and  often  indecisive  manner.  In  Switzerland 
alone  was  there  an  approximation  to  what  we  understand 
to-day  to  be  a  popular  government,  though  even  there  the 
ultra-democratic  institutions  which  nowadays  attract  so 
much  attention  on  the  part  of  students  of  political  science 
were  largely  non-existent.  In  1789  the  nations  were  all  but 
universally  without  written  constitutions,  and  despotism 
—  "enlightened,"  perhaps,  but  yet  despotism  —  was  the 
rule. 

To-day  there  is  not  one  sovereign  state  of  Europe  which 
does  not  have  a  constitution,  wholly  or  in  part  committed 
to  writing,  by  which  are  regulated  more  or  less  specifically 
the  organs  and  powers  of  government.  Further,  there  is 
not  one  state  whose  government  purports  to  be  based 
exclusively  upon  the  principle  of  absolutism.  Absolutism 
there  still  is,  to  some  degree,  in  Spain,  in  Austria,  in  Germany, 
in  Turkey,  and  especially  in  Russia.  But  everywhere,  even 
in  Russia,  the  authority  of  the  sovereign  is  tempered,  not 
alone    by   public   opinion,    but    by   popular   governmental 

160 


GOVERNMENT  IN  NORTHERN  EUROPE  161 

agencies.  This  remarkable  transformation  has  been  brought 
about  by  the  spread  of  the  twin  principles  of  constitutionalism 
and  democracy,  induced  in  part  by  the  example  of  Great 
Britain,  but  largely  by  the  political  overturning  at  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century  in  France.  It  involves  a  great 
many  things,  among  them  the  eligibility  of  the  common  man 
for  public  office  and  the  liberty  of  the  individual  to  speak  or 
write  with  impunity  upon  political  subjects ;  but  the  funda- 
mental factor  in  it  is  the  attainment  of  the  franchise.  The 
election  of  national  legislative  assemblies  by  which  is  exer- 
cised ultimate  control  over  both  law-making  and  public 
finance  is  the  surest  and  most  direct  means  by  which  the  mass 
of  the  inhabitants  of  any  country  can  control  the  government 
under  which  they  live  —  short,  at  least,  of  the  employment 
of  the  initiative  and  referendum.  The  political  progress  of 
the  various  peoples  of  continental  Europe  within  the  past 
three  or  four  generations  may,  therefore,  for  present  pur- 
poses, be  measured  to  best  advantage  by  reference  princi- 
pally to  the  advance  of  the  franchise. 

In  Germany  popular  government  has  attained  by  no 
means  the  level  which  it  has  reached  in  England  and  in 
France,  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  no  such  thing  as 
popular  control  of  public  affairs  was  known  to  the  east  of  the 
Rhine  until  the  nineteenth  century  was  well  advanced.  The 
history  of  Germany  in  the  past  hundred  years  is  the  story 
primarily  of  the  building  of  the  German  Empire,  of  the 
united  German  nation.  This  remarkable  work  was  accom- 
plished under  the  leadership  of  William  I.  and  Bismarck, 
whose  interests  centred  in  the  creation  of  a  powerful  state, 
certainly  not  in  the  promotion  of  democratic  principles  of 
government.  Only  grudgingly,  and  with  the  idea  that  a 
certain  carefully  regulated  measure  of  popular  participation 
in  government  might  impart  to  the  political  edifice  an  in- 
creased stability,  did  the  makers  of  modern  Germany  sanc- 
tion the  extension  of  political  power  to  the  masses  at  all. 

M 


1 62    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

Each  of  the  twenty-five  states  comprising  the  German 
Empire  to-day  retains  essentially  its  individual  governmental 
system,  and  the  variety  of  these  systems  is  very  great.  To 
convey  some  impression  of  the  measure  of  progress  which 
has  been  realized  in  the  direction  of  popular  government  in 
Germany,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  mention  a  few  aspects  of 
two  systems  only  —  that  of  the  kingdom  of  Prussia  and 
that  of  the  Empire  as  a  whole. 

In  area,  population,  historical  importance,  and  political 
power,  Prussia  at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
one  of  the  more  backward  nations  of  Europe.  During  the 
course  of  the  Napoleonic  period  she  underwent  a  transfor- 
mation in  social  and  economic  conditions  not  unworthy  of 
comparison  with  that  previously  experienced  in  France. 
In  respect  to  governmental  institutions,  however,  there  was 
no  change,  and  despite  the  promises  of  King  Frederick 
William,  in  1814-15,  to  take  under  advisement  the  ques- 
tion of  a  grant  of  a  constitution,  autocracy  continued  un- 
abated until  the  revolutionary  period  of  1848.  The  present 
constitution  of  the  Prussian  kingdom  was  promulgated 
January  1,  1850.  Its  underlying  principle  is  the  thorough- 
going supremacy  of  the  crown,  and  while  it  contains  impos- 
ing guarantees  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  citizen,  it 
is  sufficiently  barren  in  provisions  for  the  enforcement  of 
these  rights  and  liberties  to  render  possible  the  maintenance 
of  a  royal  authority  that  is  more  arbitrary  than  that  wielded 
by  any  monarch  west  of  Russia.  Legislative  power  is  shared 
by  the  crown  with  a  Landtag,  or  national  assembly,  whose 
upper  house  is  composed  principally  of  appointees  of  the 
king,  and  whose  lower  house,  of  433  members,  is  composed 
of  representatives  elected  for  a  five-year  term  in  districts 
returning  from  one  to  three  members. 

The  system  under  which  representatives  are  elected, 
however,  is  one  of  the  most  antiquated  and  undemocratic 
in  Europe.     At  one  stage  in  the  framing  of  the  constitution 


GOVERNMENT  IN  NORTHERN  EUROPE     163 

of  1850,  it  was  proposed  to  establish  direct  manhood  suffrage, 
but  under  the  influence  of  the  crown  there  was  adopted 
eventually  the  peculiar  three-class  system  already  utilized 
to  some  extent  in  the  election  of  municipal  officials.  Under 
this  system  every  Prussian  citizen  who  has  attained  his 
twenty-fifth  year,  and  who  is  qualified  to  vote  in  the  munici- 
pal elections  of  his  place  of  domicile,  is  entitled  to  vote  for 
a  parliamentary  representative.  There  are  thus  in  the 
kingdom  few  adult  males  who  may  not  vote,  and  at  first 
glance  the  system  appears  democratic.  The  difficulty  is, 
however,  that  the  suffrage  is  both  indirect  and  unequal. 
The  extremely  complicated  process  by  which  a  representative 
is  actually  elected  involves  the  following  necessary  steps: 
(1)  the  electoral  district  is  divided  into  a  number  of  sub- 
districts;  (2)  in  each  subdistrict  one  Wahlman,  or  elector, 
is  allotted  to  every  250  inhabitants;  (3)  for  the  choosing 
of  these  Wahlmanner  the  voters  of  the  subdistrict  are  divided 
into  three  classes,  arranged  in  such  a  fashion  that  the  first 
class  will  be  composed  of  the  taxpayers,  beginning  with  the 
largest  contributors,  who  collectively  pay  one-third  of  the 
tax  quota  of  the  district,  the  second  class  will  include 
the  payers  next  in  importance  who  as  a  group  pay  the  sec- 
ond third,  and  the  last  class  will  comprise  the  remainder; 
(4)  each  of  these  classes  chooses,  by  absolute  majority,  one- 
third  of  the  electors  to  which  the  subdistrict  is  entitled; 
finally,  (5)  all  the  electors  thus  chosen  in  the  various  sub- 
divisions of  the  district  come  together  and  elect,  by  absolute 
majority,  a  representative  to  sit  in  the  popular  chamber  at 
Berlin. 

The  three-class  system  prevails  universally  to-day,  not 
merely  in  parliamentary,  but  also  in  municipal,  elections. 
It  need  hardly  be  pointed  out  that  it  operates  to  throw  the 
bulk  of  political  power  into  the  hands  of  the  wealthy  classes. 
Within  any  single  subdistrict  one-third  of  the  taxable  prop- 
erty is  not  unlikely  to  be  owned  by  a  very  small  group  of 


1 64    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

men,  not  inconceivably  (as  actually  happened  recently  in 
a  subdistrict  in  Berlin)  by  one  man  alone.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  number  of  the  least  considerable  taxpayers  who 
in  the  aggregate  contribute  one-third  of  the  tax  quota  is 
invariably  large.  The  little  group  at  the  top,  however, 
possesses  precisely  as  much  political  weight  as  the  large 
group  at  the  bottom,  because  it  is  entitled  to  choose  an  equal 
number  of  electors.  The  system  was  devised  as  a  compromise 
between  a  thoroughgoing  democracy  based  on  universal 
suffrage  and  the  complete  dominance  of  the  landholding 
aristocracy,  but  the  result  of  it  is  a  segregation  of  social 
classes  which  is  unwholesome  and  a  distribution  of  political 
power  which  is  grossly  inequitable.  Even  Bismarck  upon 
one  occasion  was  moved  to  denounce  the  three-class  arrange- 
ment as  "the  most  miserable  and  absurd  election  law  that 
has  ever  been  formulated  in  any  country." 

In  late  years  agitation  for  the  remodelling  of  the  system  has 
been  incessant,  and  in  1 910  the  government  sought  to  appease 
the  discontented  elements  by  a  measure  retaining  the  three 
classes,  but  lowering  the  qualifications  for  eligibility  to  the 
upper  two.  By  the  Liberals,  Socialists,  Poles,  and  other 
progressive  political  groups,  the  proffered  measure  was 
pronounced  a  farce,  and  so  determined  was  the  opposition 
to  it  that  eventually  its  authors  withdrew  it.  The  problem 
of  electoral  reform  remains.  The  government  stands  com- 
mitted against  direct  and  equal  suffrage;  the  liberal  forces 
are  willing  to  accept  nothing  less.  In  addition  there  is  the 
question  of  a  redistribution  of  seats.  Not  since  i860  have 
the  election  districts  been  rearranged,  so  that  in  many  parts 
of  the  country,  especially  in  the  newer  urban  centres,  the 
quota  of  representatives  is  grossly  disproportioned  to  popu- 
lation. The  great  city  of  Berlin,  for  example,  has  but  nine 
members.  The  problem  of  reapportionment,  however,  is 
deemed  by  the  government  especially  dangerous  by  reason 
of  the  fact  that  any  sort  of  readjustment  at  the  present 


GOVERNMENT  IN  NORTHERN  EUROPE     165 

time  would  mean  inevitably  an  increase  of  Socialist  strength 
in  the  representative  body  and,  furthermore,  would  render 
virtually  necessary  a  similar  redistribution,  with  similar 
consequences,  in  the  Imperial  legislature,  or  Reichstag. 

If,  however,  attempts  further  to  liberalize  the  national 
government  of  Prussia  have  thus  far  been  thwarted,  those 
aimed  at  the  freeing  of  the  local  governmental  agencies  of 
the  kingdom  have  met  with  appreciable  success.  Beginning 
in  1872,  Bismarck  addressed  himself  to  the  task  of  coordinat- 
ing, simplifying,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  liberalizing  Prussian 
local  institutions,  and  a  series  of  measures  enacted  during 
the  decade  following  the  date  mentioned  reduced  the  ad- 
ministrative machinery  and  methods  to  substantially  the 
character  which  they  to-day  exhibit.  The  system  is  still 
one  of  the  most  complicated  in  Europe,  but  the  bureaucratic 
forces  within  it  have  been  put  under  restraint,  and  the 
principle  underlying  it  has  come  to  be  that  of  government 
by  experts,  checked  by  lay  criticism  and  by  the  power  of  the 
purse  as  wielded  by  local  elective  bodies. 

As  matters  stand  to-day,  the  voice  of  the  average  citizen 
counts  for  distinctly  more  in  the  affairs  of  the  Empire  than 
in  those  of  Prussia  or  in  those  of  most  of  the  remaining  Ger- 
man states.  The  Imperial  constitution,  promulgated  April 
16,  1871,  is  a  curious  compound  of  autocracy  and  democracy. 
The  authority  of  the  Emperor  as  such  is  at  many  points 
arbitrary,  and  with  the  constitution  and  proceedings  of  the 
powerful  Bundesrat,  or  Council  of  the  Empire,  the  people 
have  nothing  directly  or  indirectly  to  do.  The  Reichstag, 
however,  is  a  popularly  elected  body,  and  the  position  which 
the  Reichstag  occupies  in  the  Imperial  governmental  system 
is  of  fundamental  importance.  Members  of  the  Reichstag, 
in  number  397,  are  chosen  by  direct  and  secret  ballot  in 
single-member  "circles,"  or  districts.  The  franchise  is 
broadly  democratic.  Every  male  inhabitant  who,  pos- 
sessing citizenship  within  the  Empire,    has  completed  his 


1 66    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

twenty-fifth  year,  is  entitled  to  vote  in  the  district  in  which 
he  has  his  domicile,  provided  his  name  appears  properly 
upon  the  registration  lists.  He  is  not  required  to  be  a  citizen 
of  the  particular  state  in  which  he  votes.  The  only  excep- 
tions to  the  general  rule  of  universal  manhood  suffrage  arise 
from  the  disfranchisement  of  persons  under  guardianship, 
bankrupts,  beneficiaries  of  public  charity,  persons  suffering 
judicial  deprivation  in  respect  to  certain  of  their  rights  as 
citizens,  and  persons  in  active  service  in  the  army  and  navy. 
Any  male  citizen,  possessed  of  the  right  to  vote,  twenty-five 
years  of  age  or  over,  and  a  resident  of  a  state  of  the  Empire 
during  at  least  one  year,  is  eligible  as  a  candidate.  In  1906 
a  measure  was  enacted  under  which  representatives  are 
paid  a  salary  of  three  thousand  marks  for  each  session,  and 
thus  Germany  became  one  of  the  several  European  countries 
in  which  provision  has  been  made  recently  for  the  inaugura- 
tion, or  increase,  of  compensation  for  members  of  the  popular 
legislative  chamber. 

At  two  points  only  —  though  both  are  of  very  great  im- 
portance —  does  the  Reichstag  fall  short  of  the  status  of 
a  great  national  parliamentary  body.  In  the  first  place, 
never  since  1871  has  there  been  a  redisricting  of  the  Empire; 
so  that  the  populations  comprising  the  various  constituencies, 
as  is  true  in  the  kingdom  of  Prussia,  have  grown  to  be  no- 
toriously unequal.  The  Imperial  capital,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  two  millions,  is  represented  still  by  but  six  members, 
and  the  disproportion  in  other  cities  and  densely  inhabited 
regions  is  almost  as  flagrant.  In  Berlin  the  average  number  of 
residents  in  a  district  is  345,000 ;  in  East  Prussia,  but  121,000. 
The  twelve  most  populous  districts  in  the  Empire  contain 
1,950,000  people;  the  twelve  least  populous,  170,000.  In 
the  second  place,  the  control  which  the  Reichstag  is  able  to 
exercise  over  the  policies  and  measures  of  the  Emperor,  the 
Chancellor  and  their  agents,  is  not  sufficient  to  give  the 
German  system  the  character  of  a  true  parliamentary  gov- 


GOVERNMENT   IN  NORTHERN   EUROPE  167 

ernment.  Never,  for  example,  has  it  been  established  that 
the  Chancellor  —  immediate  representative  of  the  Emperor 
and  possessor  of  the  functions  of  the  entire  group  of  minis- 
ters in  countries  like  England,  France,  and  Italy  —  can 
be  compelled  to  yield  office  by  criticism  or  adverse  votes 
on  the  floor  of  the  popular  chamber.  Until  this  power  is 
made  a  feature  of  the  constitutional  system  the  popular  elec- 
tion of  the  Reichstag  cannot  be  regarded  as  meaning  as 
much  for  democratic  government  as  does  the  election  of 
the  English  House  of  Commons  or  of  the  French  Chamber 
of  Deputies.  None  the  less,  when  it  is  recalled  that  no 
project  of  finance  can  be  adopted,  and  no  Imperial  statute 
can  be  enacted,  without  the  assent  of  the  Reichstag,  it  will 
be  seen  that  in  Germany  the  essence  of  popular  government 
already  has  been  largely  realized. 

The  constitutional  arrangements  prevailing  in  Holland 
and  Belgium  to-day  are  to  be  regarded  as  products  largely 
of  the  era  of  the  French  Revolution  and  of  the  Napoleonic 
domination.  By  the  terms  of  the  first  treaty  of  Paris 
(May  30,  1 8 14),  ratified  in  the  Final  Act  of  the  Congress  of 
Vienna  (June  9,  1815),  the  Belgian  provinces  were  incor- 
porated with  Holland,  and  the  whole,  under  the  name  of 
the  Kingdom  of  the  United  Netherlands,  was  assigned  to  the 
restored  house  of  Orange,  in  the  person  of  William  I.  In  181 5 
there  was  promulgated  for  the  new  state  a  moderately  liberal 
constitution.  For  numerous  reasons  the  arrangement  was 
distasteful  to  the  Belgians  and  in  1831  they  seceded,  adopted 
a  more  liberal  constitution,  and  established  an  independent 
monarchy.  From  this  point  the  political  development  of 
the  two  countries  moved  in  separate,  though  broadly  similar, 
channels. 

In  Holland  the  fundamental  law  of  1815  was  retained, 
but  the  modifications  which  have  been  introduced  in  it  have 
so  altered  its  character  as  to  have  made  of  it  an  essentially 
new  instrument.   The  powers  of  the  crown  are  still  enormous, 


l68    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

but  more  and  more  the  balance  of  ultimate  authority  has 
inclined  toward  the  States  General,  or  Parliament.  The 
members  of  the  upper  legislative  chamber  are  chosen  by 
the  representative  assemblies  of  the  provinces;  those  of  the 
lower  chamber,  directly  by  the  voters  of  the  kingdom.  Dur- 
ing several  decades  the  franchise,  based  upon  tax-paying 
qualifications,  was  narrowly  restricted.  After  1870  the 
Liberals  carried  on  a  persistent  campaign  in  behalf  of  a 
broader  electorate,  and  by  a  constitutional  amendment  of 
1887  the  franchise  was  extended  to  all  males  twenty-three 
years  of  age  and  over  who  are  (1)  householders  paying  a 
minimum  house-duty,  (2)  lodgers  who  for  a  time  have  paid 
a  minimum  rent,  or  (3)  persons  who  are  possessed  of  "  signs 
of  fitness  and  social  well-being."  The  provisions  relating 
to  householders  and  lodgers  raised  the  electorate  at  a  stroke 
from  approximately  100,000  to  300,000.  It  was  left  to 
subsequent  legislation  to  define  "signs  of  fitness  and  social 
well-being,"  and  upon  that  issue  there  raged  intense  political 
controversy  during  a  number  of  years.  Eventually,  in 
1896,  a  definition  was  assigned  the  phrase  which  was  suffi- 
ciently comprehensive  to  bring  up  the  total  number  of  voters 
to  700,000,  a  figure  but  little  short  of  that  which  would  rep- 
resent unrestricted  manhood  suffrage. 

Circumstances  conspired  to  give  the  constitution  of  Bel- 
gium a  pronouncedly  liberal  character,  and  the  instrument 
as  drawn  in  1831  has  proved  so  satisfactory  that  in  no  im- 
portant respect,  save  that  of  parliamentary  representation, 
has  amendment  been  deemed  necessary.  The  Belgian 
parliament  consists  of  two  houses,  both  elective  and  both 
representative  of  the  nation  as  a  whole.  The  112  members 
of  the  Senate  are  chosen  in  part  by  the  provincial  councils; 
but  practically  three-fourths  of  them  are  elected  directly 
by  the  people,  after  the  principle  of  proportional  repre- 
sentation. The  166  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
are  chosen  in  accordance  with  a  scheme  which  is  noteworthy 


GOVERNMENT  IN  NORTHERN  EUROPE  169 

by  reason  of  three  facts:  (1)  it  is  based  upon  the  principle 
of  universal  manhood  suffrage;  (2)  it  embraces  a  scheme 
of  plural  voting;  and  (3)  it  provides  for  the  proportional 
representation  of  parties.  This  system  was  adopted  in 
1893,  after  a  prolonged  party  contest.  One  vote  is  allowed 
to  every  male  citizen  twenty-five  years  of  age  who  is  in  full 
enjoyment  of  his  civil  and  political  rights  and  who  has  been 
resident  at  least  one  year  in  the  commune  in  which  he  pro- 
poses to  cast  his  ballot.  There  is  absolutely  nothing  in  the 
nature  of  either  an  educational  or  a  property  qualification. 
One  supplementary  vote,  however,  is  conferred  upon  every 
male  citizen  thirty-five  years  of  age,  married  or  a  widower, 
with  legitimate  offspring,  and  paying  to  the  state  a  tax  of 
not  less  than  five  francs  as  a  householder;  also  upon  every 
such  citizen  owning  real  estate  or  government  bonds  in 
stipulated  amounts.  And  upon  holders  of  diplomas  of 
institutions  of  higher  learning,  and  other  persons  similarly 
qualified,  are  conferred  three  votes.  What  the  law  of 
1893  does,  therefore,  is  to  confer  upon  every  male  citizen 
one  vote  and  to  specify  three  principal  conditions  under 
which  this  basal  voting  power  may  be  increased.  As  the 
head  of  a  family,  the  citizen's  suffrage  may  be  doubled. 
By  reason  of  his  possession  of  property  or  of  capital,  it  like- 
wise may  be  doubled.  On  the  basis  of  a  not  unattainable 
educational  qualification,  it  may  be  tripled.  Under  no 
circumstances  may  an  individual  be  entitled  to  more  than 
three  votes.  The  plural  vote  of  Belgium  differs,  therefore, 
from  that  of  Great  Britain,  not  only  in  that  it  is  based  upon 
a  variety  of  qualifications  of  which  property  ownership  is 
but  one,  but  also  in  that  there  is  fixed  an  absolute  and 
reasonably  low  maximum  of  votes. 

It  is  of  interest  further  to  observe  that  voting  is  declared 
by  the  Belgian  constitution  to  be  obligatory.  Failure  to 
appear  at  the  polls,  without  adequate  excuse,  is  a  misde- 
meanor punishable  by  law.     The  citizen  may,  if  he  likes, 


170    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

evade  the  intent  of  the  law  by  depositing  a  blank  ballot. 
But  he  must  deposit  a  ballot  of  some  sort.  The  principle 
of  proportional  representation  was  introduced  in  communal 
elections  in  1895  and  in  parliamentary  elections  in  1899. 
Since  1893  the  Socialists  have  urged  incessantly  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  plural  vote  and  the  reduction  of  the  age  limit 
for  voters  to  twenty-one  years,  and  in  these  demands  they 
have  received  much  support  from  the  Liberals.  A  loss  of 
power  by  the  Catholic  party,  which  may  at  any  time  occur, 
would  very  probably  entail  the  triumph  of  the  "one  man, 
one  vote  "  principle.  In  both  Belgium  and  Holland  the  powers 
and  privileges  of  the  popular  legislative  chamber  in  law- 
making and  finance  are  preponderant  and  the  arrangements 
for  local  self-government  are  adequate. 

In  the  Scandinavian  'countries,  as  elsewhere,  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  an  era  of  large  progress  in  the  direction 
of  popular  government.  The  rise  of  constitutionalism  in 
Denmark  falls  within  the  period  between  1830  and  1866. 
The  constitution  of  the  kingdom  to-day  was  promulgated 
in  1866,  being,  indeed,  but  a  revision  of  a  similar  instrument 
of  1849.  The  form  of  government  is  that  of  a  limited  mon- 
archy and  the  ministers  are  responsible,  although  in  truth 
it  was  not  until  1901  that  the  principle  of  responsibility 
was  definitely  conceded  by  the  crown.  The  Rigsdag,  or 
Parliament,  consists  of  two  chambers.  The  members  of 
the  Landsthing,  or  Senate,  are  chosen  variously,  but  those 
of  the  Folkething,  or  House  of  Representatives,  are  elected 
by  direct  manhood  suffrage.  The  franchise  is  extended  to 
all  male  citizens  of  good  reputation  who  have  attained  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  except  those  who  are  in  actual  receipt 
of  public  charity,  those  who  at  one  time  have  been  recipients 
of  public  charity  and  have  rendered  no  reimbursement 
therefor,  those  who  are  in  private  service  and  have  no  in- 
dependent household  establishment,  and  those  who  are 
not  in  control  of  their  own  property.    The  voter  must  have 


GOVERNMENT  IN  NORTHERN  EUROPE     171 

resided  one  year  in  his  electoral  circle.  Recently  there  has 
been  active  agitation  in  behalf  of  the  lowering  of  the  age 
limit  from  thirty  to  twenty-five  years  and  the  extension  of 
the  suffrage  to  women.  In  19 10  a  measure  of  this  purport 
was  passed  by  the  Folkething,  but  it  failed  of  ultimate  adop- 
tion. 

From  1814  to  1905  Sweden  and  Norway  were  affiliated 
under  a  common  monarchy.  Each  state,  however,  had  its 
own  constitution,  its  own  parliament,  and  its  own  electoral 
arrangements ;  and  since  the  separation  in  1905  the  two  have 
become  totally  independent.  The  constitution  of  Sweden 
dates  largely  from  1809.  Originally  not  notable  for  liberal- 
ity, it  has  been  brought  by  amendment  into  substantial 
conformity  with  the  prevailing  type  of  continental  funda- 
mental laws.  Until  past  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  Riksdag,  or  parliament,  was  an  essentially 
mediaeval  assembly  of  estates,  but  in  1866  it  was  reorganized 
upon  the  customary  bicameral  principle.  The  change 
opened  the  way  for  a  parliamentary  leadership  on  the  part 
of  the  representatives  of  the  townsmen  and  peasants  which 
never  before  had  been  possible.  The  members  of  the  upper 
chamber  are  chosen  by  the  provincial  assemblies,  but  those 
of  the  lower  are  elected  by  the  people  directly  and  under 
a  scheme  of  proportional  representation.  Prior  to  1909 
the  franchise  was  severely  restricted  by  property  qualifica- 
tions, but  a  measure  of  the  year  mentioned,  adopted  only 
after  a  decade  of  intense  conflict,  extended  the  right  to  vote 
to  substantially  all  male  citizens  twenty-four  years  of  age. 
At  the  same  time  the  system  employed  in  the  election  of 
the  provincial  assemblies  was  notably  liberalized.  The 
extension  of  the  parliamentary  franchise  to  women  was 
refused,  but  under  circumstances  which  gave  promise  of 
the  eventual  adoption  of  a  measure  upon  that  subject. 

The  constitution  of  Norway,  adopted  originally  in  1814, 
has  been  amended  until  to-day  it  is  one  of  the  most  liberal 


172    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

in  Europe.  As  was  evidenced  by  the  failure  of  republicanism 
to  strike  root  at  the  time  of  the  constitutional  overturn  of 
1905,  monarchy  as  an  institution  is  securely  entrenched. 
But  the  powers  of  the  sovereign  are  rigidly  limited  and  the 
parliamentary  system  of  government  prevails  without  ob- 
stacle or  limitation.  A  measure  passed  by  three  successive 
parliaments  after  three  successive  national  elections,  al- 
though each  time  vetoed  by  the  crown,  becomes  law.  Among 
the  legislative  assemblies  of  Europe  that  of  Norway  is  unique. 
It  comprises  essentially  a  single  body,  which,  however,  for 
purely  legislative  purposes,  is  divided  into  two  chambers,  or 
sections.  This  division  is  made  subsequent  to  the  election 
of  the  members,  so  that  representatives  are  chosen  simply 
to  the  Storthing  as  a  whole.  Formerly  the  franchise  rested, 
as  in  Sweden,  upon  a  property  qualification ;  but  a  series 
of  suffrage  reforms  within  the  past  decade  has  brought  it 
about  that  in  respect  to  electoral  privileges  Norway  is  to-day 
one  of  the  most  democratic  of  European  countries.  By 
law  of  1898  the  franchise  was  conferred  upon  all  male  citizens 
of  the  age  of  twenty-five  in  unimpaired  possession  of  civil 
rights  and  resident  not  less  than  five  years  in  the  kingdom. 
The  existing  electorate  was  thereby  doubled.  In  1901  the 
suffrage  in  municipal  elections  was  conferred  upon  all  male 
citizens,  and  upon  all  unmarried  women  twenty-five  years 
of  age  who  pay  taxes  on  an  annual  income  of  not  less  than 
300  kronor  (about  $84)  in  the  towns,  and  upon  all  married 
women  of  similar  age  whose  husbands  are  taxed  in  similar 
amounts.  During  ensuing  years  there  was  widespread 
agitation  in  behalf  of  the  conferring  of  the  parliamentary 
franchise  upon  women,  and  the  Liberal  party  made  this  one 
of  the  principal  items  in  its  programme.  In  1907  the  Stor- 
thing rejected  a  proposal  that  women  be  given  the  parlia- 
mentary franchise  on  the  same  terms  as  men,  but  by  a 
decisive  majority  it  granted  this  franchise  to  all  women 
who  were  in  possession  of  the  municipal  franchise  under  the 


GOVERNMENT  IN  NORTHERN   EUROPE  173 

law  of  1901.  By  virtue  of  this  legislation  Norway  became 
the  first  of  European  states  within  our  time  to  confer  upon 
women  under  any  conditions  the  privilege  of  voting  for 
members  of  the  national  legislative  body  and  of  sitting  as 
members  of  that  body.1  In  1910  the  municipal  franchise 
was  granted  women  upon  the  same  terms  as  men,  and  the  de- 
mand that  this  principle  be  extended  to  the  parliamentary 
franchise  seems  certain  to  be  met. 

1  In  May,  1906,  universal  male  and  female  suffrage  in  parliamentary  elections 
was  established  in  Finland,  and  at  the  first  election  which  took  place  thereafter 
nineteen  women  were  returned  to  the  diet ;  but  Finland  is  not  a  sovereign  state. 


CHAPTER  XII 

POPULAR   GOVERNMENT  IN   THE   ROMANCE   COUNTRIES 

Among  the  states  of  continental  Europe  the  role  of  pioneer 
in  political  democracy  has  been  played  by  France.  The 
Swiss  cantons,  the  Dutch  provinces,  and  the  ancient  republic 
of  Venice  were  alike,  in  the  last  analysis,  aristocracies,  and 
the  short-lived  Commonwealth  of  Cromwell  was  a  compound 
of  aristocracy  and  dictatorship.  The  beginnings  of  political 
democracy  in  France,  however,  fall  clearly  within  the  period 
succeeding  the  summons  of  the  States  General  in  1789.  The 
France  of  the  old  regime  was  among  the  most  absolute  of 
monarchies.  Prior  to  the  Revolution  there  was  no  national 
organ  of  popular  control  in  matters  of  public  policy  save  the 
States  General.  The  States  General,  however,  comprised 
three  orders,  or  groups,  only  one  of  which  represented  in  any 
measure  the  people,  and  at  no  stage  of  its  history  did  the 
institution  exhibit  capacity  to  maintain  itself  as  a  check  upon 
the  crown.  Moreover,  during  the  hundred  and  seven ty-five 
years  preceding  1789  the  States  General  had  not  once  been 
assembled.  Within  the  sphere  of  local  government  the  sub- 
stance of  autonomy  had  all  but  disappeared,  and  centralized 
despotism  had  become  a  ruling  principle.  It  was  no  part  of 
the  programme  of  the  French  philosophers  and  reformers  of  the 
eighteenth  century  to  reduce  monarchy  to  impotence.  Turgot 
declared  that  there  never  was  such  a  thing  as  a  really  repub- 
lican constitution  and  avowed  that  monarchies  are  pecul- 
iarly adapted  to  promote  the  general  happiness  of  mankind. 
Republicanism,  said  Montesquieu,  is  practicable  only  if 
there  be  assumed  an  unlimited  supply  of  public  virtue,  a 
small  territory,  and  an  absence  of  luxury  and  large  fortunes. 

174 


GOVERNMENT  IN  THE   ROMANCE   COUNTRIES     175 

Ey  Voltaire  it  was  maintained  that  there  never  has  been  a 
perfect  democracy,  and  that  the  regeneration  of  France  was 
to  be  expected,  not  from  republicanism,  but  from  enlightened 
monarchy.  Even  Rousseau  was  bound  to  agree  that  democ- 
racy could  be  realized  only  in  states  that  were  both  small 
and  poor.  M.  Aulard,  the  principal  authority  to-day  upon 
the  development  of  political  opinion  in  France  during  the 
Revolution,  finds  the  first  traces  of  an  avowed  Republican 
party  not  earlier  than  the  autumn  of  1790.1  By  force  of 
circumstances,  however,  the  revolutionary  movement  was 
inaugurated  by  the  setting  up  of  a  reform  programme  in 
which  the  essential  principles  of  democracy  had  large  place ; 
and  the  wholly  unforeseen  direction  and  intensity  which  that 
movement  acquired  prepared  the  way  eventually  for  a  com- 
plete overturning  of  the  existing  monarchical  order  and  the 
substitution  of  a  republican  regime.  With  the  earliest  tri- 
umph of  the  revolutionary  forces,  France  entered  upon  the 
process  of  becoming  the  first,  and  ultimately  the  most  ad- 
vanced, of  democratic  states  in  continental  Europe. 

The  fundamental  fact  in  the  political  history  of  France 
during  the  past  century  and  a  quarter  has  been  the  mainte- 
nance, through  recurring  constitutional  changes,  of  the  essen- 
tial principle  of  popular  government.  The  French  people 
to-day  are  living  under  their  eleventh  constitution  since  the 
fall  of  the  Bastile.  All  but  one  of  the  eleven  have  actually 
been  in  effect  during  a  longer  or  shorter  period.  Until  the 
adoption  of  the  fundamental  law  at  present  in  operation,  no 
one  of  these  instruments  attained  its  twentieth  year.  But 
every  one  of  them  contemplated  the  maintenance  of  some 
sort  of  national  legislative  body  or  bodies;  every  one  stipu- 
lated its  own  arrangements  respecting  the  exercise  of  the 
franchise  by  the  citizens  of  the  state ;  and  every  one  recog- 
nized in  greater  or  lesser  degree  the  right  of  the  people  to  be 

Aulard,  "Political  History  of  the  French  Revolution"  (translated  by  B 
Miall),  I,  3og;    II,  53. 


176    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

consulted  in  important  matters  of  public  policy.  As  asserted 
in  the  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man  and  of  the  Citizen, 
drawn  up  by  the  National  Assembly,  August  4,  1789,  the 
political  principles  of  the  Revolution  were:  (1)  that  "all 
sovereignty  resides  essentially  in  the  nation"  ;  (2)  that  "law 
is  the  expression  of  the  general  will"  ;  (3)  that  "every  citizen 
has  a  right  to  participate  personally,  or  through  his  repre- 
sentative, in  the  formation  of  law";  and  (4)  that  law  "must 
be  the  same  for  all,  whether  it  protects  or  punishes."  At  no 
time  during  the  Revolution,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  was  the 
ideal  of  absolute  political  democracy  realized  in  practice,  but 
throughout  the  period  large,  though  varying,  provision  was 
made  for  the  extension  of  political  power  to  the  common 
man. 

The  first  of  the  two  constitutions  which  were  actually  in 
effect  during  the  Revolution  —  that  of  September  3,  1791  — 
provided  for  a  one-house  Corps  Legislatif,  consisting  of  745 
members,  chosen  by  electors  who,  in  turn,  were  chosen  in  the 
eighty-three  departments  by  male  citizens  of  the  age  of 
twenty-five  who  paid  annually  a  direct  tax  amounting  to  as 
much  as  the  value  of  three  days'  labor.  Provision  was  made 
also  for  the  popular  election  of  judges  and  of  all  local  admin- 
istrative authorities.  The  constitution  of  1791  was  in  opera- 
tion less  than  a  year.  In  1793  a  new  frame  of  government 
was  drawn  up  and  ratified  by  the  people,  in  which  provision 
was  made  for  the  reference  of  all  projected  laws  to  primary 
assemblies  of  citizens  to  be  voted  upon  after  the  principle  of 
the  referendum.  This  ultra-democratic  instrument  was 
never  put  in  effect.  September  23,  1795,  however,  there  was 
promulgated  the  memorable  Constitution  of  the  Year  III., 
under  which  France  was  governed  somewhat  more  than  four 
years.  This  instrument  opened  with  a  reiteration  of  the 
rights  of  man  and  established  a  governmental  system  some- 
what more  democratic  than  that  contemplated  in  the  con- 
stitution of  1 79 1,  though  somewhat  less  so  than  that  provided 


GOVERNMENT  IN  THE   ROMANCE   COUNTRIES    177 

for  in  the  instrument  of  1793.  Legislative  power  was  vested 
in  two  chambers  conjointly  —  a  Council  of  Five  Hundred  and  ■ 
a  Council  of  Elders  —  the  members  of  which  were  chosen  by 
the  same  electors,  but  under  different  conditions  of  eligibility. 
The  franchise  was  extended  to  all  male  citizens  over  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  who  were  able  to  read  and  write  and  who 
followed  a  trade  or  were  liable  to  direct  taxation ;  but  the 
earlier  system  of  indirect  election  by  means  of  electoral 
colleges  was  retained. 

Following  Napoleon's  coup  d'etat  of  18  Brumaire  (Novem- 
ber 9, 1799)  the  Constitution  of  the  Year  III.  was  replaced 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  Year  VIIL,  and  this  instrument, 
amended  several  times  by  important  organic  enactments, 
continued  the  fundamental  law  under  which  Napoleon  ruled 
France  until  his  abdication  in  18 14.  The  frame  of  govern- 
ment for  which  it  provided  was  extremely  complicated  and 
cumbersome,  and  it  lent  itself  readily  to  the  maintenance  of 
the  essential  autocracy  upon  which  Napoleon  was  bent.  In 
form  there  was  established  a  system  of  thoroughgoing  man- 
hood suffrage,  and  nominally  the  government  was  one  of  the 
people.  But  the  conditions  under  which  the  electoral  privi- 
lege was  required  to  be  exercised,  rendered  the  democratic 
elements  of  the  regime  a  mockery.  The  general  scheme  was 
one  devised  by  Sieyes  under  the  designation  of  "lists  of  no- 
tables." The  members  of  no  one  of  the  four  assemblies  were 
elected  directly  by  the  people.  In  each  communal  district 
citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  inscribed  on  the  civil 
register  chose  a  tenth  of  their  number  to  comprise  a  "com- 
munal list."  Those  named  on  the  communal  list  chose  in 
their  department  a  tenth  of  their  number,  who  formed  a 
"  departmental  list."  And,  similarly,  those  whose  names 
appeared  on  the  departmental  list  chose  a  tenth  of  their 
number,  who  formed  a  "national  list."  From  these  three 
lists,  in  order,  were  chosen,  largely  by  the  Senate,  the  public 
officials  of   the  districts,  the  departments,  and  the  nation. 


178    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

Under  this  system  the  primary  electors  numbered  about 
5,000,000;  the  district  notables,  500,000;  the  departmental 
notables,  50,000;  and  the  national  list,  5000.  It  is  hardly 
too  much  to  say  that  no  electoral  scheme,  unless  it  be  that  of 
Prussia,  has  ever  been  devised  which,  while  grounded  upon 
the  principle  of  manhood  suffrage,  more  effectually  withdraws 
from  the  people  the  actual  choice  of  their  public  officials, 
both  national  and  local. 

The  fall  of  Napoleon  was  succeeded  by  a  restoration  of  the 
Bourbon  monarchy,  but  by  the  change  the  interests  of  democ- 
racy profited  distinctly.  The  social  structure  of  the  country 
remained,  and  was  destined  to  remain,  as  it  had  been  fash- 
ioned under  the  Revolution  and  the  Empire,  and  between  the 
extremes  of  absolutism  and  republicanism  there  was  hit  upon 
a  middle  way,  that  of  constitutional  monarchy,  modelled 
upon  the  English.  The  Constitutional  Charter  of  1814-15  ' 
vested  in  the  crown  the  sole  initiative  of  legislative  measures, 
but  it  created  a  two-house  legislative  assembly  —  a  Chamber 
of  Peers  and  a  Chamber  of  Deputies  —  without  whose  assent 
no  law  might  be  enacted  and  no  tax  might  be  levied.  The 
upper  chamber  was  composed  of  members  named  by  the 
king,  but  the  lower  consisted  of  representatives  elected  in 
the  departments  by  direct  popular  suffrage.  By  supple- 
mentary law  of  February  5,  181 7,  the  franchise  was  conferred 
upon  all  male  citizens  who  had  attained  their  thirtieth  year 
and  who  paid  a  direct  tax  amounting  to  at  least  300  francs 
annually.  In  1830  the  chambers  were  given  the  right  to 
initiate  measures,  and  the  minimum  age  of  electors  was  re- 
duced from  thirty  to  twenty-five  years;  and  in  183 1  the  direct 
tax  qualification  was  reduced  from  300  francs  to  200,  and  for 
certain  professional  classes,  100.  Even  under  these  condi- 
tions, however,  the  proportion  of  the  enfranchised  did  not 
exceed  one  in  one  hundred  fifty  of  the  total  population. 

With  the  overthrow  of  the  Orleanist  monarchy,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  uprising  of  February  24,  1848,  France  entered 


GOVERNMENT  IN  THE   ROMANCE  COUNTRIES    179 

upon  a  period  of  aggravated  political  unsettlement.  Through 
upwards  of  five  years  the  nation  experimented  with  re- 
publicanism, only  at  the  close  of  that  period  to  emerge  a 
monarchy  once  more,  an  empire,  and  the  dominion  of  a 
Bonaparte.  April  23,  1848,  there  was  elected  by  manhood 
suffrage  a  national  constituent  assembly  of  900  members, 
and,  November  4,  this  body  adopted  a  republican  constitution 
whose  corner-stone  was  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  the  people. 
The  principal  organs  of  government  were  to  be  a  president 
and  a  one-house  legislative  assembly  of  750  members.  Both 
were  to  be  chosen  by  direct  and  secret  ballot  by  electors 
whose  only  necessary  qualification  was  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
a  residence  of  six  months,  and  the  non-impairment  of  civil 
rights.  For  a  variety  of  reasons  the  new  order  failed  to 
strike  root.  By  a  law  of  May  31,  1850,  requiring  of  the 
elector  a  three-year  residence  in  his  district,  the  principle 
of  manhood  suffrage  was  subverted  and  the  electorate  was 
reduced  by  three  millions,  or  virtually  one-third.  At  the 
coup  d'etat  of  December  2,  1851,  the  original  arrangements 
were  revived,  but  only  to  facilitate  the  monarchical  purposes 
of  Louis  Napoleon;  and  when,  November  18,  1852,  the 
people  by  a  vote  of  7,824,189  to  253,145  sanctioned  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  Napoleonic  Empire,  the  last  vestiges 
of  the  short-lived  republic  vere  swept  away. 

In  1852  France  was  given  a  new  constitution  which,  with 
a  few  modifications,  continued  her  fundamental  law  until 
the  collapse  of  the  Empire  in  1870.  This  constitution  pro- 
vided for  two  legislative  bodies  —  a  Senate,  consisting  of 
ex-officio  members  and  life  members  appointed  by  the 
Emperor,  and  a  Corps  Legislatif  of  251  members  elected  by 
direct  manhood  suffrage  every  six  years.  The  powers  of  the 
Senate  were  of  some  importance,  but  those  of  the  popular 
chamber  were  so  restricted  that  the  liberal  arrangements 
respecting  the  suffrage  operated  but  indifferently  to  the 
benefit  of  the  people.     Throughout  upwards  of  two  decades 


180    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  illusion  of  democracy  was  maintained,  but  government 
was  in  reality  autocratic. 

The  present  French  republic  was  instituted  under  cir- 
cumstances which  gave  promise  of  even  less  stability  than 
had  been  exhibited  by  its  predecessors  of  1793  and  1848. 
Proclaimed  in  the  dismal  days  following  the  disaster  at 
Sedan,  it  owed  its  existence  at  the  outset  to  the  fact  that, 
with  the  capture  of  Napoleon  III.  by  the  Prussians  and  the 
utter  breakdown  of  the  Imperial  regime,  there  had  arisen,  as 
the  historian  Thiers  put  it,  "a  vacancy  of  power."  February 
8,  187 1,  there  was  chosen  by  manhood  suffrage  a  national 
assembly  of  758  members,  under  whose  guidance  the  war 
was  brought  to  a  close,  the  terms  of  peace  were  agreed  upon, 
and  provisional  arrangements  for  government  were  effected. 
More  because  the  monarchical  factions  were  unable  to  har- 
monize their  programmes  than  because  there  was  any  wide- 
spread demand  for  republicanism,  the  system  eventually 
established  was  that  of  a  democratic  republic.  The  new 
constitution,  comprising  principally  a  series  of  five  funda- 
mental laws  enacted  by  the  national  assembly  in  1875,  was 
neither  orderly  in  its  arrangement  nor  comprehensive  in  its 
contents.  It  made  no  mention  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people  and  contained  no  provision  with  respect  to  such 
important  matters  as  the  annual  budget  and  the  national 
judiciary.  Under  the  force  of  its  provisions,  however, 
together  with  that  of  amendments  which  have  been  added 
to  it,  and  of  ordinary  legislation  by  which  it  has  been  sup- 
plemented, there  has  been  developed  in  France  within  the 
past  forty  years  a  governmental  order  which  is  one  of  the 
most  democratic,  and  apparently  one  of  the  most  securely 
established,  in  Europe. 

The  fundamental  powers  of  state  are  vested  largely  in  a 
national  parliament  of  two  houses  —  a  Senate  and  a  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies.  The  300  members  of  the  Senate  are  chosen 
in  the  83  departments  by  electoral  colleges  in  which  the  popu- 


GOVERNMENT  IN  THE   ROMANCE  COUNTRIES    181 

iar  element  is  prominent,  and  the  597  deputies  are  elected 
directly  by  the  people.  The  franchise  is  extended  to  all  male 
citizens  who  have  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  who 
are  not  convicts,  bankrupts,  under  guardianship,  or  in  active 
military  or  naval  service.  Of  educational  or  property  quali- 
fications there  are  none.  The  only  requirement  is  that  the 
voter  shall  see  to  it  that  his  name  is  inscribed  on  the  electoral 
lists  and  that  he  shall  be  able  to  prove  a  six  months'  residence 
in  the  commune  in  which  he  proposes  to  cast  his  ballot.  The 
conditions  of  the  franchise  are  prescribed  by  national  law; 
but  the  keeping,  and  the  annual  revision,  of  the  electoral 
lists  devolve  upon  the  commune,  and  the  lists  are  identical 
for  commune,  district,  departmental,  and  national  elections. 
The  parliamentary  electoral  area  is  the  arrondissement,  an 
administrative  subdivision  of  the  department.  Each  arron- 
dissement returns  one  deputy,  unless  its  population  exceeds 
100,000,  in  which  case  it  is  divided  into  single-member  con- 
stituencies, one  for  each  100,000  or  major  fraction  thereof. 
A  fresh  apportionment  is  made  after  each  quinquennial 
census. 

The  president  of  the  republic  is  elected,  not  by  popular 
vote,  but  by  the  two  houses  of  Parliament.  But  the  acts  of 
the  chief  executive  are  in  practice  so  largely  subject  to  parlia- 
mentary supervision  that  the  lack  of  direct  popular  election 
constitutes  hardly  a  more  considerable  obstacle  to  democracy 
than  does  the  anomalous  presidential  electoral  system  pre- 
vailing in  the  United  States.  The  principle  of  popular  elec- 
tion runs  throughout  the  whole  of  the  local  governmental 
system.  The  leading  official  of  the  department,  the  prefect, 
is  appointed  by  the  central  authorities,  but  he  is  obliged 
to  work  with  a  representative  assembly  elected  by  the  people 
under  a  franchise  arrangement  identical  with  that  which 
operates  in  the  choice  of  parliamentary  deputies.  The 
council  of  the  arrondissement  and  that  of  the  commune  are 
both  elective  bodies. 


1 82    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

Electoral  questions  in  France  to-day  pertain,  not  to  the 
broadening  of  the  franchise,  but  simply  to  the  precise  con- 
ditions under  which  the  present  scheme  of  manhood  voting 
shall  be  operated.  Two  questions  in  particular  absorb 
much  attention:  (i)  that  of  the  establishment  of  the  scru- 
tin  de  liste,  in  accordance  with  which  all  the  deputies  from  a 
department  would  be  elected  on  a  general  departmental 
ticket  instead  of  by  single-member  constituencies,  and  (2) 
that  of  the  establishment  of  some  system,  such  as  that  which 
operates  in  Belgium,  under  which  the  various  party  groups 
within  a  department  may  acquire  representation  at  Paris 
in  proportion  to  the  numerical  strength  which  they  exhibit 
at  the  polls.  These  changes  have  long  been  advocated  by 
the  Socialists  and  by  other  radical  elements.  The  first  of 
them  at  least  has  been  accorded  the  support  of  several  suc- 
cessive ministries,  and  the  probabilities  are  that  both  in 
time  will  be  carried  into  effect. 

The  development  of  democratic  government  in  Italy  during 
the  course  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  been  the  more 
remarkable  in  that  not  only  was  Italy  previously  quite  as 
devoid  of  popular  institutions  as  was  France,  but  the  country 
was  entirely  lacking  in  the  political  unity  requisite  for  the 
establishment  of  any  single  and  stable  governmental  system. 
The  first  phase  of  the  Italina  Risorgimento,  or  "resurrection," 
coincided  in  time  with  the  period  of  French  domination 
(1796-1814)  incident  to  the  Napoleonic  wars.  Its  principal 
aspect  was  the  creation  of  a  group  of  republics,  erected  on  the 
ruins  of  Austrian  and  Spanish  power,  as  well  as  upon  those 
of  independent  native  monarchies.  Eighteenth  century 
absolutism  gave  place  nominally  to  progressive  and  liberal 
government,  though  in  truth  the  arrangements  effected  for 
popular  participation  in  public  affairs  were  hopelessly  inade- 
quate and  were  not  intended  to  establish  more  than  the  form 
of  democracy.  Politically  and  commercially,  the  republics 
were  from  the  outset  tributary  to  France,  and  after  the 


GOVERNMENT  IN  THE   ROMANCE   COUNTRIES    183 

establishment  of  the  Napoleonic  Empire,  in  1804,  Italy  was 
fast  assimilated  to  France  in  constitutional  status.  May 
26,  1805,  Napoleon  was  crowned  king  of  Italy,  and  monarchy, 
long  veiled,  appeared  again  in  the  open. 

Upon  the  collapse  of  the  Napoleonic  regime  Italy  fell  back 
largely,  though  not  wholly,  into  the  condition  prevailing  in 
the  eighteenth  century.  After  the  Congress  of  Vienna  had 
completed  its  readjustments  the  peninsula  was  found  to 
contain  ten  states,  several  of  which  were  dominated  directly 
or  indirectly  by  Austria,  and  the  name  Italy  was  still  only 
what  Metternich  pronounced  it  to  be,  i.e.,  "a  geographical 
expression."  During  the  prolonged  period  1815-48  — 
the  era  dominated  by  the  great  Austrian  reactionary  Metter- 
nich —  there  was  no  government  anywhere  in  Italy  that  was 
not  absolute.  No  one  of  the  states  had  a  constitution,  a 
parliament,  or  any  vestige  of  popular  political  procedure. 
The  turning  point  came,  however,  with  the  great  mid-century 
era  of  revolution.  In  the  course  of  the  widespread  popular 
uprisings  of  1848-49  several  constitutions  were  granted  by 
Italian  princes,  and  one  —  that  promulgated  March  4, 1848, 
by  King  Charles  Albert  of  Piedmont  —  assumed  in  time 
large  moment  by  reason  of  the  fact  that,  unlike  the  others, 
it  was  never  revoked,  but  instead  became,  and  is  to-day,  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  united  Italian  nation.  After  1848 
the  building  of  modern  Italy  became  preeminently  the  work 
of  Piedmont,  and  when  finally,  in  1870,  the  task  was  com- 
pleted, the  result  stood  a  monument  to  Piedmontese  organi- 
zation, leadership,  conquest,  and  expansion.  The  principal 
steps  in  the  process  —  the  alliance  with  France  in  1855  ;  the 
war  with  Austria  and  the  acquisition  of  Lombardy  in  1859; 
the  annexation  of  Tuscany,  Modena,  Parma,  Romagna,  Um- 
bria,  the  Papal  Marches,  Naples  and  Sicily  in  i860;  the 
proclamation  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy  in  1861 ;  the  incorpora- 
tion of  Venetia  in  1867  ;  and  the  occupation  of  Rome  in  1870  — ■ 
are  familiar  to  every  student  of  nineteenth  century  history. 


184    SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

To  each  successive  addition  of  territory  the  Statuto  o\ 
Charles  Albert  was  extended,  until  eventually  the  instru- 
ment became  the  constitution  of  united  Italy ;  and  although 
by  interpretation  and  supplementary  legislation  the  work- 
ing constitution  of  the  kingdom  has  been  broadened  and 
otherwise  modified,  the  text  of  the  document  of  1848  stands 
to-day  essentially  unchanged.  Monarchy  in  Italy  is  limited 
and  the  parliamentary  system,  while  hampered  by  the  multi- 
plicity of  political  parties,  operates  with  sufficient  facility 
to  ensure  effectual  control  of  the  executive  by  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  government.  Parliament  consists  of  two 
houses.  The  members  of  the  Senate  are  appointed  from 
certain  stipulated  categories  of  citizens  by  the  crown ;  the 
508  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  are  elected  by  the 
people.  In  no  country  of  western  Europe  is  the  franchise 
more  severely  restricted  than  in  Italy,  yet  progress  toward 
a  broadly  democratic  scheme  of  suffrage  has  been  steady  and 
apparently  as  rapid  as  conditions  have  warranted.  Prior 
to  1882  the  franchise  was  extended  only  to  property -holders 
who  were  able  to  read  and  write,  who  had  attained  the  age 
of  twenty-five,  and  who  paid  an  annual  tax  of  at  least  40  lire 
(about  $8).  Under  this  system  less  than  two  and  one-half 
per  cent  of  the  population  possessed  the  voting  privilege. 
In  1882  the  property  qualification  was  reduced  from  40  lire 
to  19  lire  80  centesimi  and  the  age  limit  was  lowered  to 
twenty-one  years.  The  disqualification  of  illiteracy  was 
retained,  but  a  premium  was  placed  upon  literacy  by  the 
extension  of  the  franchise,  regardless  of  property,  to  all  males 
over  twenty-one  who  had  received  a  primary  school  educa- 
tion. By  the  new  law  the  number  of  voters  was  raised  from 
627,838  to  2,049,461. 

Since  1882  the  electoral  system  has  been  revised  a  number 
of  times,  but  without  any  pronounced  effect  upon  the  scope 
of  the  franchise.  As  the  law  stands  to-day  the  voter  must 
be  a  citizen  twenty-one  years  of  age  or  over ;  he  must  be  able 


GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  ROMANCE  COUNTRIES    185 

to  read  and  write ;  and  he  must  have  passed  an  examination 
in  the  subjects  comprised  in  the  course  of  compulsory  elemen- 
tary education.  The  last-mentioned  qualification  is  not 
required,  however,  of  officials,  college  graduates,  professional 
men,  persons  who  have  served  two  years  in  the  army,  and 
citizens  who  pay  a  direct  tax  annually  of  as  much  as  19  lire 
80  centesimi,  an  agricultural  rental  of  500  lire,  or  house  rent 
ranging,  according  to  the  size  of  the  commune,  from  150  to  400 
lire.  The  test  of  education  continues  to  be  fundamental 
in  the  system,  and  the  extension  of  public  education  carries 
with  it  automatically  the  expansion  of  the  franchise.  Un- 
fortunately, the  obstacles  to  educational  progress  are  so 
great  that  the  democratization  of  the  state  through  this 
process  proceeds  slowly.  In  1904  the  number  of  enrolled 
voters  was  2,541,327/  which  was  but  29  per  cent  of  the  male 
population  over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  7.67  per  cent 
of  the  total  population.  At  the  general  election  of  November, 
1904,  the  number  of  persons  who  voted  was  but  1,593,886, 
or  62.7  per  cent  of  the  number  entitled  to  do  so.  Lack  of 
clear-cut  political  issues,  papal  disapproval,  and  native 
indifference  operate  continually  to  keep  down  the  propor- 
tion of  the  enfranchised  citizens  who  make  use  of  their  privi- 
leges. So  imminent  has  always  seemed  the  menace  of  illiter- 
acy that  but  seldom  has  the  establishment  of  manhood 
suffrage  been  proposed,  and  there  is  no  very  insistent  demand 
that  the  existing  suffrage  arrangements  be  materially  modified. 
None  the  less,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  parliamentary 
government  in  Italy  is  barely  half  a  century  old,  and  by  those 
best  acquainted  with  the  political  history  of  the  country 
during  this  eventful  period  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the 
progress  that  has  been  realized  in  the  direction  of  self-govern- 
ment has  been  among  the  more  remarkable  phenomena  of 
recent  times. 

1  Exclusive  of  26,056  electors  temporarily  disfranchised  by  reason  of  being 
engaged  in  active  military  service. 


1 86    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

Spain  is  another  south  European  state  which  during  the 
nineteenth  century  acquired  a  constitutional  style  of  govern- 
ment and  in  which  the  growth  of  popular  institutions  has 
been  larger  than  is  commonly  understood.  After  several 
more  or  less  unhappy  experiments  with  constitutionalism, 
beginning  with  the  promulgation  of  the  visionary  instrument 
of  1812  and  ending  in  the  creation  of  the  short-lived  republic 
of  1873,  Spain  at  length  arrived  at  unwonted  stability  under 
a  fundamental  law,  promulgated  in  1876,  which  continues 
to  the  present  day  the  legal  basis  of  public  authority.  The 
principal  organs  of  government  are  the  crown,  the  ministers, 
and  a  Cortes  of  two  houses.  Executive  power  is  vested  in 
the  crown,  though  in  practice  it  is  exercised  chiefly  by  the 
ministers ;  and  for  the  acts  of  the  government  these  minis- 
ters are  responsible  nominally,  if  not  always  actually,  to  the 
national  parliament.  The  two  legislative  chambers  are  the 
Senate  and  the  Congress  of  Deputies.  The  Senate,  while 
in  part  elective,  is  essentially  an  aristocratic  body,  but  the 
Congress  cf  Deputies  is  composed  of  members  chosen  directly 
by  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  districts  into  which  the 
kingdom  is  divided.  Prior  to  1890  the  franchise  was  re- 
stricted severely  by  property  qualifications,  but  a  measure  of 
that  year  reestablished  in  effect  the  scheme  of  manhood 
suffrage  which  had  been  in  operation  during  the  revolutionary 
epoch  1869-75.  As  amended  in  1907,  the  law  confers  the 
suffrage  upon  all  male  Spaniards  who  have  attained  the  age 
of  twenty-five,  who  have  resided  in  a  given  electoral  district 
not  less  than  two  years,  and  who  have  not  been  deprived  ju- 
dicially of  their  civil  rights.  Except,  indeed,  in  the  case  of 
certain  judicial  officials  and  of  persons  more  than  seventy 
years  of  age,  the  exercise  of  the  voting  privilege  is  compulsory. 

The  political  history  of  Portugal  throughout  the  nineteenth 
century,  like  that  of  Spain,  was  stormy.  The  principle  of 
constitutionalism  may  be  said  to  have  been  definitely  estab- 
lished in  1826,  at  which  time  there  was  granted  by  Pedro  IV. 


GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  ROMANCE  COUNTRIES    187 

a  "constitutional  charter"  introducing  a  parliamentary 
scheme  of  government  modelled  upon  that  in  operation  in 
Great  Britain.  Until  the  uprising  of  1910  this  charter, 
modified  by  numerous  amendments,  remained  the  funda- 
mental law  of  the  kingdom.  Nominally,  the  governmental 
system  prevailing  under  it  was  distinctly  liberal.  The  powers 
of  the  crown  were  closely  regulated,  the  ministers  were  de- 
clared to  be  responsible,  and  the  155  members  of  the  House 
of  Deputies  were  elected,  after  the  principle  of  proportional 
representation,  by  the  direct  vote  of  all  male  citizens  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  who  were  able  to  read  and  write  and  who 
paid  a  very  small  tax.  Practically,  however,  by  reason  of 
the  factious  nature  of  Portuguese  politics,  the  indifferent 
capacity  of  the  royal  family,  and  the  ignorance  and  inex- 
perience of  the  mass  of  the  people,  popular  government  was 
little  better  than  a  farce.  The  accession  of  Manuel  II. ,  in 
February,  1908,  was  succeeded  by  the  ripening  of  a  republican 
plot  which  in  October,  1910,  was  carried  into  execution  with 
complete  success.  Through  the  agency  of  a  provisional 
government  the  monarchy  was  abolished,  the  aristocratic 
chamber  of  the  national  parliament  was  swept  away,  far- 
reaching  reforms  in  public  finance,  agriculture,  education, 
and  religion  were  inaugurated,  and  arrangements  were  ef- 
fected whereby  there  should  be  elected  a  national  constituent 
assembly.  In  the  election  of  this  assembly,  May  28,  191 1, 
virtually  all  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  able 
to  read  and  write  were  permitted  to  participate.  During 
the  summer  of  191 1  the  assembly  ratified  the  work  of  the 
provisional  government,  declared  the  government  of  Portugal 
to  be  that  of  a  democratic  republic,  and  drafted  a  national 
constitution  which  subsequently  was  put  in  operation. 
Whether  Portugal's  republican  experiment  shall  prove  ulti- 
mately more  successful  than  did  Spain's  of  two  score  years 
ago  cannot  now  be  foretold,  but  the  beginning  has  been,  on 
the  whole,  auspicious. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

POPULAR   GOVERNMENT  IN   EASTERN   EUROPE 

The  past  three-quarters  of  a  century  has  been  in  eastern 
Europe  a  period  of  transformation  hardly  less  remarkable 
than  that  which  within  the  same  decades  has  taken  place  in 
England,  France,  or  Germany.  New  states  —  Greece,  Bul- 
garia, Roumania,  Servia,  Montenegro  —  have  arisen  to  take 
their  places  in  the  widening  family  of  nations.  The  railway 
has  been  introduced,  industrial  activity  extended,  trade  in- 
creased, and  agriculture  revived.  The  facilities  of  educa- 
tion have  been  multiplied,  and  the  range  of  religious  liberty 
has  been  broadened.  More  important,  perhaps,  than  any 
of  these  things,  the  right  of  the  people  to  participate  in  their 
own  government  has  been  extensively  established.  Until 
the  nineteenth  century  was  well  advanced  there  was  no 
substantial  measure  of  popular  government  in  any  country, 
save  Hungary,  between  the  Alps  and  the  Urals;  but  to-day 
there  is  not  a  country  anywhere  in  Europe  in  which  the 
people  do  not  exercise  some  real  influence  in  the  conduct  of 
legislation,  taxation,  and  other  fundamental  concerns  of 
statecraft.  In  the  nations  of  the  east  this  influence  is  exer- 
cised under  conditions  which  are  very  much  less  liberal  and 
stable  than  those  that  obtain  in  western  lands.  But  the 
existence  of  popular  governmental  institutions  of  any  sort 
in  states  that  were  so  recently  devoid  of  them  is  a  fact  of 
first-rate  significance. 

The  only  one  of  the  larger  states  of  eastern  Europe  definitely 
to  attain  constitutionalism  before  the  close  of  the  nineteenth 
century  was  Austria-Hungary;  and  it  may  be  added  that  it 
is  in  Austria  that,  within  our  own  day,  the  maximum  of 


POPULAR   GOVERNMENT  IN  EASTERN   EUROPE     189 

east  European  political  democracy  has  been  realized.  As  is 
familiarly  understood,  Austria-Hungary  is  a  dual  monarchy 
composed  of  the  Empire  of  Austria  and  the  Kingdom  of  Hun- 
gary. Political  relations  between  the  two  portions  of  the 
monarchy  have  subsisted  since  the  first  quarter  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  but  the  affiliation  which  to-day  binds  the  two 
together  rests  upon  the  memorable  Ausgleich,  or  Compromise, 
of  1867.  The  two  states  have  a  common  sovereign,  who  is 
emperor  in  Austria  and  king  in  Hungary,  common  ministries 
of  foreign  affairs,  war,  and  finance,  and  a  unique  joint  legisla- 
tive institution  known  as  the  "delegations."  Otherwise, 
the  two  are  entirely  separate.  Each  has  its  own  constitu- 
tion, its  own  parliament,  its  own  ministry,  its  own  laws,  its 
own  administrative  system,  its  own  courts.  It  thus  becomes 
possible  for  the  two  to  maintain  political  arrangements  which 
are  widely  dissimilar,  and  in  fact  that  is  precisely  what  they 
do. 

Austria  entered  the  nineteenth  century  a  monarchy  of  the 
most  thoroughly  absolutist  type.  Some  of  her  more  recent 
sovereigns,  notably  Maria  Theresa  (1740-80)  and  Joseph 
II.  (1780-90),  belonged  to  the  eighteenth  century  group  of 
enlightened  despots  and  by  their  broadly  conceived  meas- 
ures contributed  much  to  the  modernization  of  what  was  still 
essentially  a  mediaeval  state;  but  with  popular  institutions 
no  one  of  these  monarchs  had  a  shred  of  sympathy,  and 
throughout  the  great  era  of  revolution  in  France,  and  of  the 
Napoleonic  revolutionizing  of  Europe,  the  Empire  continued 
substantially  unaffected.  In  the  widespread  reaction  which 
set  in  during  the  declining  years  of  the  Napoleonic  regime 
it  fell  to  Austria,  guided  by  Prince  Metternich,  "the  man  of 
the  status  quo,"  to  play  the  principal  role.  Through  several 
decades  Austrian  influence  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  dam- 
ming the  stream  of  liberalism  throughout  half  of  Europe,  and 
during  this  period  the  key  to  Austrian  polity  at  home  con- 
tinued steadily  to  be  supplied  by  the  maxim  of  the  Emperor 


1 90    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

Francis  I.,1  "govern  and  change  nothing."  It  was  only  after 
1840  that  there  took  place  throughout  the  Empire  any  con- 
siderable growth  of  liberalism.  Once  well  started,  however, 
the  liberal  movement  made  rapid  headway,  and  the  main- 
tenance of  the  absolutist  regime  became  steadily  more  diffi- 
cult. The  turning-point  came  in  1848.  Under  the  electrify- 
ing effect  of  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Louis  Philippe  at  Paris, 
and  of  the  fulminations  of  Louis  Kossuth,  translated  intyi 
German  and  scattered  broadcast  in  the  Austrian  capital 
there  broke  out  at  Vienna,  March  12-13  OI  the  year  mentioned, 
an  insurrection  which  instantly  got  beyond  the  government'* 
ability  to  control.  Metternich  was  hurled  from  power  and 
the  structure  of  the  Empire  was  shaken  to  its  foundations. 
April  25  there  was  promulgated  the  first  written  constitution 
in  Austrian  history.  In  1849,  however,  a  new  sovereign  — 
the  present  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  I.  —  was  established 
upon  the  throne  and  the  forces  of  autocracy  gradually  won 
back  what  had  been  lost.  December  31,  1851,  "in  the  name 
of  the  unity  of  the  Empire  and  of  monarchical  principles," 
the  revised  constitution  of  March  4,  1849,  was  rescinded, 
and,  save  that  the  abolition  of  feudal  institutions  was  perma- 
nent, the  Empire  fell  back  into  almost  precisely  its  status 
during  the  era  of  Metternich.  The  decade  which  followed 
was  a  period  of  political  and  intellectual  torpor. 

But  the  triumph  of  constitutionalism  was  nearer  than 
appeared.  The  depression  of  the  later  fifties,  intensified 
by  the  humiliations  of  the  Crimean  War  and  the  disasters 
of  the  Italian  campaigns  of  1859,  induced  the  Emperor  and 
his  principal  minister,  Goluchowski,  to  undertake  of  their 
own  accord  a  substantial  reformation  of  the  Empire's  illiberal 
and  antiquated  governmental  system.  The  project  was 
delayed,  first  by  a  deadlock  occasioned  by  differences  of 
opinion  with  Hungary  and  later  by  the  Austro-Prussian  War 

Emperor  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  1792-1804;  emperor  of  Austria 
1804-1835. 


POPULAR   GOVERNMENT   IN    EASTERN   EUROPE     191 

of  1866.  But  in  1867  the  end  was  attained.  Under  date 
of  December  21  of  that  year,  there  were  promulgated  five 
fundamental  laws  which,  comprising  nominally  a  revision 
and  extension  of  a  patent  of  1861,  became  for  all  practical 
purposes  the  constitution  of  the  Austrian  Empire  of  to-day. 
Their  promulgation  was  a  part  of  the  same  general  settle- 
ment of  Austro-Hungarian  affairs  which  was  given  distinction 
by  the  establishment  of  the  existing  Ausgleich. 

Under  the  terms  of  these  instruments  Austria  is  constituted 
a  limited  monarchy,  with  a  responsible  ministry,  a  bicameral 
legislature,  and  a  considerable  measure  of  local  self-govern- 
ment. All  citizens  are  declared  to  be  equal  before  the  law; 
public  office  is  open  alike  to  all;  freedom  of  speech  and  press 
and  liberty  of  conscience  are  guaranteed  to  all ;  and  the 
inviolability  of  property  is  amply  safeguarded.  Of  the 
relentless  repression  of  individual  freedom  and  initiative 
which  so  preeminently  characterized  the  Metternich  regime 
hardly  a  trace  remains.  The  upper  legislative  branch,  the 
Herrenhaus,  or  House  of  Lords,  consists  of  a  somewhat 
variable  body  of  men  who  sit  in  part  by  ex-officio  right,  in 
part  by  hereditary  station,  and  in  part  by  special  Imperial 
appointment.  Originally,  the  members  of  the  Abgeordne- 
tenhaus,  or  House  of  Representatives,  were  elected  by  the 
provincial  diets,  but  in  1873  the  power  of  election  was  vested 
directly  in  the  people. 

The  broadly  democratic  electoral  system  which  prevails 
in  the  Empire  to-day,  however,  is  a  very  recent  creation. 
When,  in  1873,  the  right  of  electing  deputies  was  withdrawn 
from  the  provincial  diets,  it  was  conferred  upon  the  four 
classes  of  the  provincial  populations  which  had  been  ac- 
customed to  take  part  in  the  electing  of  the  local  diets. 
These  were  (1)  the  great  landholders,  (2)  the  larger  payers 
of  direct  taxes  in  the  towns,  (3)  chambers  of  commerce  and 
of  industry,  and  (4)  the  larger  payers  of  direct  taxes  in  the 
rural  communes.    To  each  of   these   curia,  or  classes,  the 


192    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

law  of  1873  assigned  the  right  of  electing  a  given  number 
of  parliamentary  representatives.  The  number  of  voters 
in  each  class  and  the  relative  importance  of  the  individual 
voter  varied  enormously.  In  1890,  in  the  class  of  landowners 
there  was  one  deputy  to  every  63  voters;  in  the  chambers 
of  commerce,  one  to  every  27;  in  the  towns,  one  to  every 
2918;  and  in  the  rural  districts,  one  to  every  11,600.  Such 
a  system  obviously  was  grossly  undemocratic  and  inequi- 
table. In  1893  Premier  Taaffe,  in  response  to  persistent 
agitation,  brought  forward  a  sweeping  electoral  measure 
which,  if  it  had  become  law,  would  not  have  abolished  the 
class  system,  but  would  have  increased  the  electorate  from 
1,700,000  to  something  like  4,000,000.  By  both  those  who 
thought  it  went  too  far  and  those,  chiefly  the  Socialists, 
who  thought  it  did  not  go  far  enough,  the  measure  was  opposed, 
with  the  consequence  of  its  defeat.  In  1896  a  statute  was 
passed  by  which  there  was  added  to  the  existing  chamber 
72  new  members,  to  be  elected  by  male  citizens  twenty- 
four  years  of  age  and  resident  six  months  in  their  respective 
electoral  districts.  The  inequalities  inherent  in  the  class 
system,  however,  were  left  untouched,  and  the  problem  of 
a  democratic  franchise  was  still  unsolved. 

Not  until  1905  did  the  situation  again  become  favorable 
for  reform.  At  the  close  of  that  year  the  government  prom- 
ised a  universal  suffrage  bill,  and  in  February,  1906,  a 
measure  upon  the  subject  was  introduced.  In  the  hope 
of  terminating  the  parliamentary  obstructionism  by  which 
the  conduct  of  public  business  had  long  been  impeded,  and 
of  winning  fresh  popularity  for  the  Hapsburg  dynasty,  the 
aged  Emperor  accorded  it  his  warm  approval.  In  the 
closing  days  of  the  year  the  measure  was  passed,  and,  January 
26,  1907,  it  was  put  in  operation.  By  it  the  total  number 
of  parliamentary  seats  was  raised  from  425  to  516,  a  fresh 
and  more  equitable  allotment  of  them  among  the  racial 
groups  of  the  Empire  was  effected,  and  the  class  system  was 


POPULAR  GOVERNMENT  IN   EASTERN   EUROPE    193 

abolished  entirely,  and  in  its  stead  was  substituted  general, 
equal,  and  direct  manhood  suffrage.  For  the  first  time  the 
Austrian  representative  body  was  put  upon  a  plane  with 
the  parliamentary  assemblies  of  the  most  advanced  nations 
of  the  world.  With  insignificant  exceptions,  every  male 
citizen  who  has  attained  the  age  of  twenty-four  years,  and  who 
at  the  time  the  election  is  ordered  has  resided  during  at 
least  one  year  in  the  commune  in  which  the  right  to  vote  is 
to  be  exercised,  is  qualified  to-day  to  vote  for  a  parliamentary 
representative.  There  are  no  important  qualifications  of 
either  property  or  education.  Voting  is  by  secret  ballot, 
and,  when  so  ordered  by  the  provincial  diet,  is  compulsory. 
The  effort  of  the  aristocratic  elements  to  introduce  in  the 
law  of  1907  a  scheme  of  plural  voting  based  upon  age  was 
unsuccessful. 

The  fundamentals  of  the  constitution  of  Hungary  are  of 
remarkable  antiquity,  antedating  even  the  Golden  Bull  of 
1222,  wherein,  as  in  the  contemporary  Great  Charter  of 
England,  were  confirmed  institutions  and  liberties  that 
were  already  old.  In  the  main,  however,  the  constitutional 
system  to-day  in  operation  took  form  in  a  series  of  measures 
enacted  by  the  Hungarian  diet  in  the  course  of  the  up- 
heaval of  1848.  Thirty-one  laws,  in  all,  were  at  that  time 
passed,  revising  the  organization  of  the  legislative  chambers, 
extending  the  suffrage,  creating  a  responsible  cabinet,  abolish- 
ing the  remains  of  feudalism,  and  modernizing,  in  general, 
the  institutions  of  the  kingdom.  The  fate  of  these  measures 
was  for  a  time  adverse.  The  Austrian  recovery  in  1849 
remanded  Hungary  to  the  status  of  a  subject  province,  and 
it  was  not  until  the  establishment  of  the  Ausgleich  of  1867 
that  the  constitutional  regime  of  1848  was  permitted  again 
to  be  put  in  operation.  Since  1867,  however,  the  constitu- 
tion and  laws  of  the  kingdom  have  been  fully  guaranteed, 
and  Hungary  has  taken  rank  as  one  of  the  more  limited  of 
east  European  monarchies.  The  powers  of  the  crown  are 
0 


194    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

rigidly  restricted,  the  ministers  are  responsible  for  all  ex- 
ecutive acts,  and  there  is  a  bicameral  parliament  of  notable 
independence  and  vigor.  The  upper  house,  known  as  the 
Chamber  of  Magnates,  is  in  composition  aristocratic,  but 
the  lower,  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  is  composed  of  413 
representatives  elected  by  the  people. 

The  electoral  system,  however,  —  established  in  1848 
and  slightly  revised  in  1874  and  1899,  —  was  devised  specifi- 
cally to  insure  the  continued  dominance  of  the  ruling 
Magyar  element  of  the  population,  and  in  its  actual  operation 
it  is  one  of  the  most  complicated  and  illiberal  in  Europe. 
The  requisite  age  for  a  voter  is  twenty  years,  as  compared 
with  twenty-four  in  Austria,  but  qualifications  of  property, 
taxation,  profession,  official  position,  and  ancestral  privileges 
are  so  manipulated  as  to  exclude  from  the  franchise  sub- 
stantially the  whole  of  the  non-Magyar  population,  pre- 
ponderant numerically  though  it  is.1  In  an  aggregate 
population  of  some  20,000,000  to-day  there  are  not  more 
than  1,100,000  voters.  In  recent  years,  especially  since 
the  reform  of  1907  in  Austria,  there  has  been  in  Hungary 
an  increasingly  insistent  demand  that  the  Magyar  hegemony 
be  broken  and  that  a  broader  and  more  equitable  electoral 
system  be  substituted  for  the  antiquated  system  now  in 
operation.  In  1908  the  government  submitted  to  the  cham- 
bers an  elaborate  electoral  measure,  but  the  obnoxious 
features  of  the  existing  law  were  merely  replaced  by  other 
features  equally  obnoxious  and  designed  to  attain  the  same 
ends.  The  proposed  legislation  was  rejected,  and  the  electoral 
system  remains  unreformed.  Interest  in  the  subject  con- 
tinues intense,  and  it  would  seem  that  the  demand  of  the 
non-Magyar  peoples  for  a  more  substantial  voice  in  the 
affairs  of  the  nation  cannot  long  be  denied. 

1  At  the  census  of  igoo  the  aggregate  population  of  the  kingdom  was  10,254,559. 
The  number  of  Magyars  was  8,742,301.  Of  the  non-Magyars,  8,029,316  were 
Slavs  and  2,135,181  Germans. 


POPULAR   GOVERNMENT  IN   EASTERN  EUROPE    195 

The  opening  decade  of  the  twentieth  century,  prolific  in 
constitutional  reforms  in  numerous  states  of  western  Europe, 
witnessed  the  inauguration  of  constitutionalism  in  two 
important  nations  of  the  east,  Russia  and  Turkey.  By  no 
means  sufficient  time  has  elapsed  to  render  it  possible  to 
forecast  with  assurance  the  consequences  of  the  changes  that 
in  these  countries  have  been  introduced,  but  it  seems  reason- 
ably clear  that  in  both  instances  the  ground  which  has  been 
occupied  in  the  direction  of  popular  participation  in  govern- 
mental affairs  will  never  be  wholly  abandoned.  Russia  at 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  a  thorough- 
going autocracy.  It  was  within  the  competence  of  the 
tsar  to  make  war  and  conclude  peace  at  will,  to  appoint  and 
dismiss  his  ministers  independently,  to  initiate  and  pro- 
mulgate arbitrarily  any  measure  of  legislation,  and  to  order 
the  arrest,  imprisonment,  exile,  or  execution  of  any  person 
whatsoever,  all  without  an  iota  of  responsibility  and  with- 
out obligation  to  ask  the  assent  of,  or  to  render  account  to, 
any  earthly  power.  Of  parliamentary  institutions  there  was 
not  a  trace.  Save  in  the  very  general  sense  of  an  ill-defined 
body  of  customs  regulating  such  matters  as  the  succession  to 
the  throne,  there  was  not  even  a  national  constitution.  The 
tsar  could  at  any  time  effect  the  most  fundamental  changes 
in  the  economy  of  the  state,  not  only  without  calling  into 
consultation  representatives  of  the  nation,  but  even  over  the 
protest  of  any  or  all  of  Ins  official  agents  and  advisers. 

The  history  of  Russia  throughout  the  century  exhibited 
a  remarkable  alternation  of  liberalism  and  reaction.  Alex- 
ander I.  (1801-25)  was  during  the  first  two-thirds  of  his 
reign  a  more  liberal  sovereign  than  any  the  Empire  had  ever 
known.  He  relaxed  the  censorship  of  the  press,  encouraged 
tolerance  for  dissenters  in  religion,  instigated  the  codifica- 
tion and  humanizing  of  the  law,  remodelled  the  organs  of 
government,  contemplated  emancipation  of  the  serfs,  be- 
stowed upon  the  affiliated  kingdom  of  Poland  a  constitution 


196    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

which  in  respect  to  the  franchise  was  more  liberal  than  the 
English  or  the  French,  and  apparently  was  not  ill-disposed 
toward  the  granting  of  a  constitution  to  Russia  itself.  After 
1 81 8,  however,  he  fell  all  but  completely  under  the  spell  of 
Metternich  and,  giving  way  to  his  apprehensions,  became 
strongly  reactionary.  Nicholas  I.  (1825-55),  his  brother 
and  successor,  was  by  nature  an  absolutist,  and  the  three 
decades  covered  by  his  reign  comprised  an  era  of  remorseless, 
undeviating  repression.  The  accession  of  Alexander  II. 
(1855-81),  following  hard  the  humiliations  of  the  war  in 
the  Crimea,  inaugurated  a  second  epoch  of  liberalism.  The 
censorship  of  the  press  was  again  relaxed,  the  activities  of 
the  secret  police  which  during  the  preceding  reign  had  been 
most  obnoxious  were  curtailed,  the  agencies  of  popular 
education  were  overhauled  and  extended,  jury  trial  was 
introduced  in  criminal  cases,  a  measure  of  local  self-govern- 
ment was  instituted  through  the  district  and  provincial 
zemstvos,  and,  as  has  been  related  elsewhere,  the  whole  body 
of  serfs  on  both  royal  and  private  estates  was  emancipated. 
The  reign  closed,  as  had  that  of  Alexander  I.,  amidst  re- 
action, although  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  the  time  of 
the  sovereign's  assassination  a  project  was  in  hand  looking 
toward  the  establishment  of  a  national  consultative  assembly. 
Alexander  III.  (1881-94)  believed  liberalism  both  dan- 
gerous and  fundamentally  non-Russian,  and  with  his  acces- 
sion there  set  in  a  new  era  of  autocracy  which  was  prolonged 
through  the  reign  and  over  into  that  of  the  present  emperor, 
Nicholas  II.,  until  within  recent  years  the  exigencies  of  war 
and  revolution  forced  a  relaxation. 

How,  step  by  step,  Russia  was  brought,  during  the  years 
1904-08,  to  the  attainment  of  constitutionalism  is  a  matter 
of  familiar  history.  Pressed  by  strikes,  disorders,  and 
plots,  the  Imperial  government  was  driven,  first,  to  decree  the 
freedom  of  the  press  and  kindred  liberalizing  measures, 
then  to  call  into  existence  a  Duma,  or  national  representative 


POPULAR  GOVERNMENT  IN   EASTERN  EUROPE     197 

assembly,  and  finally  to  concede  that  the  franchise  should 
be  universal  and  the  assembly's  control  of  legislation  more 
than  merely  nominal.  The  convening  of  the  first  Duma, 
May  10,  1906,  was  preceded  by  the  promulgation  of  a  series 
of  "organic  laws"  which  were  forbidden  to  be  touched  by 
the  assembly,  and  which,  amended  at  a  number  of  points, 
comprise  to-day  the  formal  constitution  of  the  Empire. 
There  was  established  at  the  same  time  a  Council  of  the 
Empire,  an  essentially  aristocratic  body  whose  function  it 
became  to  serve  as  an  upper  chamber  of  the  national  legis- 
lature. "No  new  law,"  declares  the  constitution,  "shall 
be  promulgated  without  the  approval  of  the  Council  of  the 
Empire  and  of  the  Imperial  Duma,  and  no  law  shall  become 
effective  until  after  its  approval  by  the  Emperor."  '  The 
regulations  in  accordance  with  which  the  members  of  the 
Duma  are  elected  have  been  modified  a  number  of  times, 
but  in  the  form  adopted  in  1907  they  prescribe  that  those 
deputies  who  represent  the  towns  shall  be  elected  directly, 
and  those  who  represent  the  governments  and  provinces 
shall  be  elected  indirectly,  by  the  people.  In  general,  the 
franchise  is  extended  to  male  citizens  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  excluding  students,  soldiers,  and  sailors  in  actual  service, 
and  several  classes  of  present  or  past  offenders  against  the 
laws.     No  individual  is  entitled  to  more  than  one  vote. 

The  history  of  the  Duma  was  for  a  time  stormy,  and  by 
the  intensity  of  party  and  factional  strife  the  survival 
of  the  new  regime  was  more  than  once  imperilled.  The 
life  of  the  third  Duma  (opened  November  14,  1907),  how- 
ever, has  been  prolonged,  and  the  years  covered  by  it 
have  been  marked  by  constructive  legislation  of  the  sort  of 
which  Russia  long  has  stood  in  need.  The  government  of 
the  Empire  is  still  far  from  democratic.  The  immediate 
purpose  of  the  constitution  is  quite  as  much  to  safeguard 
the  interests  of  monarchy  as  to  promote  those  of  the  people, 

1  Art.  44.  Dodd,  "Modern  Constitutions,"  II,  188. 


198    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

and  the  ultimate  principle  of  autocracy  is  maintained  at 
St.  Petersburg  with  rigidity.  Measured,  however,  by  the 
conditions  of  a  century,  a  generation,  or  even  a  decade  ago, 
the  amount  of  progress  attained  in  governmental  responsive- 
ness to  the  will  of  the  nation  looms  large. 

The  history  of  European  Turkey  in  the  past  hundred  years 
has  been  a  story  largely  of  governmental  inefficiency  and 
territorial  dismemberment.  With  popular  institutions  the 
nation  until  very  recently  had  little  to  do.  In  1876  there 
was  promulgated  a  liberal  constitution,  but  the  instrument 
was  intended  merely  to  enable  the  new  sultan,  Abdul  Hamid 
II.,  to  weather  a  threatened  palace  revolution,  and  as  soon 
as  it  had  served  its  purpose  it  was  suspended.  In  the  summer 
of  1908,  however,  a  revolution  which  had  been  long  brewing 
wrought  speedily  and  peacefully  a  remarkable  change  of 
situation.  The  Young  Turks  acquired  control  of  the  army 
and  forced  upon  the  sultan  a  restoration  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  1876  and  an  order  for  the  election  of  a  national 
parliament.  The  termination  of  the  old  regime  of  tyranny 
and  corruption  was  acclaimed  throughout  the  surviving 
portions  of  the  Empire,  and,  although  during  the  spring  of 
1909  a  counter-revolutionary  movement  was  set  on  foot 
against  the  reforming  element,  the  triumph  of  the  new  order 
was  complete.  In  April,  1909,  Abdul  Hamid  II.  was  deposed 
and  in  his  stead  was  set  up  as  constitutional  monarch  his 
brother,  Mohammed  V.,  and  August  5,  1009,  a  new  con- 
stitution, differing  but  slightly  from  that  of  1876,  was  put  in 
operation.  The  sultan  remains  the  spiritual  head  of  the 
larger  part  of  the  Moslem  world,  but  he  is  no  longer  a  tem- 
poral autocrat.  His  ministers  are  responsible  for  all  execu- 
tive acts.  The  first  Turkish  Parliament  was  opened  Decem- 
ber 17,  1908.  It  consisted  of  two  chambers,  a  Senate 
appointed  by  the  sultan,  and  a  Chamber  of  Deputies  elected 
by  the  people  on  the  basis  of  one  representative  for  every 
50,000  adult  males  of  the  population. 


POPULAR   GOVERNMENT  IN   EASTERN   EUROPE    199 

Of  the  several  European  states  which  within  the  past 
hundred  years  have  achieved  independence  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  every  one  maintains  free  institutions,  and  some  are 
quite  thoroughly  democratic.  During  a  considerable  period 
after  her  liberation  (1827-29)  Greece  suffered  from  abso- 
lutism. In  1844  a  constitution  was  put  in  operation  under 
which  was  established  a  limited  monarchy  and  a  bicameral 
legislature,  but  it  was  not  until  after  the  accession  of  the 
present  sovereign,  George  L,  in  1863,  that  liberalism  became 
the  ruling  principle  in  governmental  affairs.  Under  the 
constitution  of  1864  the  powers  of  the  crown  are  restricted, 
the  ministers  are  responsible,  and  supreme  legislative  func- 
tions are  vested  in  a  popularly  elected  Bule,  or  parliament, 
of  one  chamber.  Roumania  achieved  independence  in  1878 
and  proclaimed  herself  a  kingdom  in  1881.  Her  government 
is  that  of  a  constitutional  monarchy  with  an  elective  parlia- 
ment, although  the  electoral  system,  resembling  the  three- 
class  system  of  Prussia,  is  exceedingly  illiberal.  Servia 
also  was  recognized  as  independent  in  1878.  Since  the 
creation  of  the  Servian  kingdom,  in  1882,  the  governmental 
arrangements  of  the  nation  have  been  unstable  and,  on  the 
whole,  less  satisfactory  than  those  of  any  other  sovereign 
Balkan  state.  Bulgaria,  long  a  principality  tributary  to 
Turkey,  took  advantage  of  the  Turkish  revolution  of  1908 
to  declare  her  independence,  and  although  the  act  constituted 
a  violation  of  the  Berlin  treaty  of  1878,  the  declaration  was 
permitted  by  the  powers  to  be  made  good.  The  kingdom 
remains  what  the  principality  was,  i.e.,  a  constitutional 
monarchy  whose  legislative  body,  the  Sobranye,  is  elected 
by  manhood  suffrage.  The  smallest  of  the  Balkan  states, 
Montenegro,  was  converted  by  its  prince  voluntarily,  in 
1905,  from  a  patriarchal  autocracy  into  a  limited  monarchy 
with  a  constitution  framed  by  a  popular  assembly;  and,  in 
August,  1 910,  the  miniature  principality  was  raised  to  the 
dignity  of  a  kingdom. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  RULE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  IN  SWITZERLAND 

Throughout  a  generation  past  the  laboratory  par  excellence 
of  democracy  in  Europe  has  been  the  diminutive  republic 
of  Switzerland.  "The  sovereignty  of  the  people,"  writes 
an  English  student  of  popular  institutions,  "based  upon 
the  equal  political  and  civil  rights  of  all  adult  male  citizens, 
has  nowhere  been  so  fully  realized  as  in  the  expanding  series 
of  self-governing  areas  in  which  a  Swiss  citizen  exercises  his 
rights  and  duties  as  a  member  of  a  commune,  a  canton,  and 
a  federal  state ;  nowhere  have  the  relations  between  these 
larger  and  smaller  areas  of  democracy  grown  up  under  con- 
ditions of  such  careful  adjustment  and  so  much  promise  of 
stability.  Finally,  there  is  no  other  state  whose  constitutions, 
federal,  provincial,  communal,  express  such  implicit  con- 
fidence in  the  present  will  of  the  majority  and  admit  such 
facility  of  fundamental  changes  to  meet  new  conditions. 
Though  there  are  one  or  two  modern  states  where  public 
control  of  industry  and  other  forms  of  socialistic  legislation 
and  administration  have  been  carried  further  than  in  Swit- 
zerland, it  would  probably  be  found  that  nowhere  has  sub- 
stantial liberty  and  equality  of  opportunity,  political,  in- 
dustrial, educational,  and  social,  been  more  adequately 
secured  than  to  the  citizens  in  the  more  advanced  cantons 
of  Switzerland.  For  not  only  in  political  government  do  we 
find  many  able  experiments  in  the  art  of  reconciling  indi- 
vidual liberty  with  rule  by  the  majority,  but  outside  of 
politics  in  the  labor  organizations,  cooperative  societies, 
consumers'  leagues,  and  an  immense  variety  of  economic, 
philanthropic,  educational,  and  recreative  unions,  we  have 

200 


THE   RULE  OF  THE   PEOPLE   IN  SWITZERLAND    201 

evidence  of  the  free  play  of  a  democratic  spirit  finding  ex- 
pression in  social  forms."  l 

The  Swiss  confederation  as  it  exists  to-day  is  a  product 
of  the  middle  and  later  nineteenth  century.  The  origins  of 
it,  however,  are  to  be  traced  to  a  very  much  remoter  period. 
Beginning  with  the  alliance  of  the  three  forest  cantons  of 
Uri,  Schwyz,  and  Unterwalden  in  1291,  it  was  brought  to 
its  present  status  through  the  gradual  accretion  of  new 
cantons,  the  subdivision  of  old  ones,  the  reconstitution  of 
dependent  territories,  and  the  development  of  a  federal 
governmental  system  superimposed  upon  the  political 
arrangements  of  the  several  affiliated  states.  In  1798, 
when  the  French  Directory,  at  the  instigation  of  Napoleon, 
took  it  upon  itself  to  revolutionize  Switzerland,  the  con- 
federation consisted  of  thirteen  essentially  autonomous 
cantons  whose  only  organ  of  common  control  was  a  diet 
in  which  each  member  of  the  federation  possessed  one  vote. 
The  powers  of  the  diet  were  scarcely  more  than  advisory. 
Of  the  cantons,  some  were  moderately  democratic,  but  others 
were  rigidly  aristocratic,  and  the  institutions  of  them  all 
were  largely  such  as  had  survived  from  the  later  Middle 
Ages.  The  consequence  of  the  French  intervention  of  1798 
was  the  almost  instant  conversion  of  the  loosely  organized 
confederation  into  a  centralized  Helvetic  Republic,  tribu- 
tary to  France,  and  administered  under  a  constitution 
which  was  substantially  a  reproduction  of  the  French  in- 
strument of  1795.  A  government  of  ample  powers  was  set 
up  at  Lucerne,  comprising  an  Executive  Directory,  a  Senate, 
and  an  indirectly  elected  Grand  Council  of  Deputies.  A 
uniform  Swiss  citizenship  was  established,  a  common  suf- 
frage was  introduced,  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  were 
guaranteed,  and  unity  was  provided  for  in  the  coinage,  the 
postal  service,  and  the  penal  law.  The  French  intervention 
was  ruthless,  and  the  regime  thrust  upon  the  Swiss  had  little 

1  Lloyd,  "A  Sovereign  People,"  1-2. 


202    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

root  in  national  tradition  or  interest,  but  by  it  the  shackles 
of  medievalism  were  effectually  broken  and  the  country 
was  set  upon  the  road  toward  substantial  and  modernized 
nationality.  Under  the  new  system  there  was  much  chafing 
and,  February  19,  1803,  Napoleon  yielded  so  far  as  to  pro- 
mulgate an  Act  of  Mediation  whereby  was  authorized  an 
essential  restoration  of  federalism,  and  once  more  Switzer- 
land became  a  mere  league  of  states.  The  diet  of  the  new 
confederation,  however,  possessed  powers  materially  more 
extended  than  those  which  had  been  exercised  by  its  pred- 
ecessor, and  the  equality  of  civil  rights,  furthermore,  which 
the  French  had  introduced  was  not  permitted  to  be  molested. 
At  the  close  of  1813,  when  Napoleon's  hold  upon  the 
European  situation  was  fast  being  relaxed,  the  Act  of  Media- 
tion was  repudiated  by  a  majority  of  the  cantons,  and  under 
date  of  August  7,  1815,  there  was  adopted  by  the  whole 
number  of  cantons  —  now  raised  to  22 —  a  "Federal  Pact," 
or  constitution,  whereby  the  ties  which  bound  the  federation 
together  were  still  further  weakened.  Most  of  the  guaran- 
tees of  common  citizenship,  religious  toleration,  and  in- 
dividual liberty  which  the  French  had  introduced  were 
rescinded,  and  during  the  decade  following  181 5  the  trend 
in  the  more  important  cantons  was  not  only  particularistic 
but  distinctly  reactionary.  The  smaller  and  poorer  cantons, 
however,  retained  largely  their  democratic  institutions,  and 
after  1830  the  tide  turned  in  the  direction  of  liberalism  in 
one  after  another  of  the  more  influential  ones.  Between 
1830  and  1848  there  took  place  not  fewer  than  thirty  liberaliz- 
ing revisions  of  cantonal  constitutions,  and  in  the  same 
period  the  movement  for  the  strengthening  and  democratiz- 
ing of  the  confederation  as  a  whole  gained  such  headway 
that  in  the  revolutionary  year  1848  it  became  possible  for 
the  first  time  for  the  Radical,  or  Centralist,  party  to  bring 
about  the  adoption  of  a  new  nationalizing  constitution. 
Under  this  instrument  were  revived  numerous  features  of 


THE   RULE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  IN  SWITZERLAND    203 

the  constitutional  regime  of  1 798-1803.  But  the  establish- 
ment of  national  unity  was  not  yet  carried  far  enough  to 
satisfy  the  Centralists,  and  in  1874  they  procured  the  adop- 
tion of  a  revised  and  still  more  centralizing  fundamental  law. 
The  constitution  of  Switzerland  to-day  is  this  instrument  of 
1874,  amended,  however,  upon  at  least  a  dozen  occasions 
and  in  a  number  of  highly  important  particulars.  The 
nation  remains  a  confederation,  and  the  sphere  of  govern- 
mental authority  left  to  the  twenty-five  affiliated  cantons 
and  half-cantons  is  large;  but  the  trend  through  two  genera- 
tions has  been  scarcely  less  pronouncedly  in  the  direction 
of  increased  nationalism  than  has  been  the  case  in  the  United 
States  since  1789. 

The  governmental  system  of  the  confederation  to-day, 
like  that  of  the  individual  cantons,  is  based  upon  a  curious 
combination  of  the  two  principles  of  representation  and  the 
exercise  of  political  power  directly  by  the  people.  The 
essential  organs  of  the  general  government  are  the  executive 
Federal  Council  and  the  legislative  Federal  Assembly. 
The  latter  consists  of  two  houses,  of  which  the  upper  is 
known  as  the  Council  of  the  States  and  the  lower  as  the 
National  Council.  The  Federal  Council  comprises  a  plural 
executive,  such  as  was  advocated  by  many  of  the  framers  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  It  consists  of  seven 
members  elected  by  the  two  legislative  houses  in  joint  session 
for  a  maximum  term  of  three  years.  To  preside  over  the 
deliberations  of  the  Federal  Council  and  to  serve  as  titular 
head  of  the  state  the  houses  designate  each  year  one  of  the 
seven  councillors,  and  upon  him  is  bestowed  the  name  of 
President  of  the  Republic.  This  dignitary  is,  however,  not 
at  all  a  "chief  executive"  in  either  the  American  or  the 
French  sense.  He  is  at  best  only  primus  inter  pares,  and 
his  powers  do  not  materially  transcend  those  01  his  colleagues. 
Each  of  the  councillors  assumes  direction  of  one  of  the  seven 
departments  of   state,  but  neither  singly    nor  collectively 


204    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

does  their  authority  reach  far  beyond  routine  business. 
Ultimate  control  in  all  matters  with  which  they  have  to  do 
is  vested  in  the  Assembly,  of  which  body  the  Federal  Council, 
indeed,  is  in  function  but  a  sort  of  executive  committee. 

Within  the  Assembly  the  Council  of  States,  or  upper  house, 
is  essentially  federal,  while  the  National  Council,  or  lower 
branch,  is  broadly  popular.  The  Council  of  States,  like  the 
American  Senate,  consists  of  two  members  from  each  of  the 
affiliated  states;  but  there  the  analogy  ends,  for  these  mem- 
bers may  be  chosen  in  any  one  of  a  half-dozen  ways,  the 
length  of  their  terms  may  be  fixed  by  the  individual  cantons, 
and  the  functions  of  the  chamber  are  in  every  respect  identi- 
cal with  those  of  the  lower  house.  It  is  commonly  agreed 
that  the  Council  of  States  lacks  the  initiative  and  the  restrain- 
ing power  inherent  in  a  virile  upper  chamber.  The  National 
Council  is  composed  of  deputies  chosen  at  a  general  election, 
for  a  term  of  three  years,  by  direct  manhood  suffrage.  The 
constitution  stipulates  that  there  shall  be  one  representative 
for  every  20,000  inhabitants  or  major  fraction  thereof,  and 
a  reapportionment  is  made  consequent  upon  each  decennial 
census.  The  quota  of  representatives  falling  to  the  various 
cantons  varies,  of  course,  from  decade  to  decade.  It  runs  at 
present  from  one  in  Uri  and  Zug  to  sixteen  in  Zurich  and 
twenty-seven  in  Bern.  The  electorate  consists  of  all  male 
Swiss  who  have  attained  their  twentieth  year,  and  who  are 
in  possession  of  the  franchise  within  their  respective  cantons. 
Voting  is  in  all  cases  by  secret  ballot,  and  elections  take  place 
on  the  same  day  (the  last  Sunday  in  October)  throughout 
the  entire  country.  Fear  of  Catholic  influence  dictated 
the  restriction  that  no  clergyman  might  be  elected  a  repre- 
sentative. With  this  exception,  all  voters  are  eligible. 
The  constitution  requires  that  the  Assembly  shall  be  con- 
vened at  least  once  a  year ;  in  point  of  fact,  it  meets  regularly 
twice,  in  June  and  in  December.  The  powers  which  it 
exercises  are  principally  legislative,  but  also  in  no  small 


THE  RULE   OF  THE   PEOPLE  IN  SWITZERLAND    205 

degree  executive  and  judicial.  It  is  the  real  directive  agency 
of  the  confederation. 

The  most  remarkable  features  of  the  Swiss  political  system 
are  those  which  arise  from  the  employment  of  the  popular 
initiative  and  referendum  and  of  other  direct  primary  agencies 
of  government.  Historically,  these  institutions  were  carried 
over  into  the  domain  of  the  federal  government  from  the 
governmental  systems  of  the  cantons,  and  an  understanding 
of  their  operations  presupposes  some  acquaintance  with 
their  cantonal  origins.  There  are  in  the  confederation  to-day 
twenty-five  cantons  and  half-cantons.1  Each  has  its  own 
constitution,  and  no  two  constitutions  are  altogether  alike. 
The  variation  in  governmental  organs  and  practice  is  there- 
fore considerable.  Taking,  however,  as  a  basis  of  classifi- 
cation the  nature  of  the  legislative  process,  the  whole  number 
of  cantons  may  be  said  to  fall  into  three  groups.  The  first 
comprises  those  in  which  the  ultimate  public  powers  are 
exercised  directly  by  a  Landesgemeinde,  or  primary  assembly 
of  enfranchised  citizens;  the  second,  those  in  which  the  ex- 
ercise of  such  powers  is  vested  in  a  body  of  elected  repre- 
sentatives, subject  to  an  obligatory  referendum  of  measures 
to  the  people;  the  third,  those  in  which  the  public  powers 
are  similarly  vested,  but  in  which  the  referendum  is  optional 
rather  than  obligatory. 

Prior  to  the  French  intervention  of  1798  there  were  in 
the  confederation  no  fewer  than  eleven  cantons  whose  govern- 
ment was  of  the  primary-assembly  type ;  to-day  there  are 
but  two  cantons  and  four  half-cantons  —  Uri,  Glarus,  the 
two  Unterwaldens,  and  the  two  Appenzells.  Under  varying 
circumstances,  but  principally  by  reason  of  the  increasingly 
unwieldly  character  of  the  Landesgemeinde  occasioned  by 
the  growth  of  population,  the  remainder  have  gone  over  to 

1  Strictly,  19  cantons  and  6  half-cantons.  In  respect  to  local  government 
the  half-canton  is  a  distinct  state,  but  in  federal  affairs  it  has  only  one-half 
the  weight  of  a  canton. 


206    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  representative  system.  All  those  in  which  the  primary 
assembly  survives  are  small  in  area  and  are  situated  in  the 
more  sparsely  populated  mountain  districts  where  condi- 
tions of  living  are  primitive  and  where  there  is  small  need 
of  governmental  elaborateness.  The  area  of  Zug  is  but  92 
square  miles,  that  of  Glarus  267.  The  distance  to  be  travelled 
by  the  citizen  who  wishes  to  attend  the  Landesgemeinde  of 
his  canton  rarely  exceeds  ten  miles.  Theoretically,  the 
primary  assembly  is  composed  of  all  male  citizens  of  the 
canton  or  half-canton  who  have  attained  the  age  of  twenty 
years.  Actually,  it  is  a  gathering  of  those  who  are  able, 
or  disposed,  to  be  present.  The  assembly  meets  once  a  year, 
in  April  or  May,  at  a  centrally  located  place  within  the 
canton,  and  usually  in  an  open  meadow.  Special  sessions 
may  be  convened  when  occasion  arises.  With  the  men 
come  ordinarily  the  women  and  children,  and  the  occasion 
partakes  of  the  character  of  a  picturesque,  even  if  solemn 
and  ceremonious,  holiday.  Under  the  presidency  of  a  Land- 
amman,  or  cantonal  executive,  elected  by  the  assembly, 
the  gathering  passes  with  despatch  upon  whatsoever  pro- 
posals may  be  laid  before  it  by  the  Landrat,  or  legislative 
council  of  the  canton.  In  the  larger  assemblies  measures 
are  simply  adopted  or  rejected,  without  privilege  of  debate. 
In  the  smaller  ones,  however,  it  is  still  possible  to  preserve 
some  restricted  measure  of  discussion.  Unless  a  secret 
ballot  is  specifically  demanded,  voting  is  by  show  of  hands. 
Propositions  may  be  introduced  by  any  member,  though 
in  practice  it  is  customary  to  communicate  them  exclusively 
through  the  agency  of  the  cantonal  council.  The  com- 
petence of  the  Landesgemeinde  is  very  comprehensive.  It 
comprises  the  revision  of  constitutions,  the  enactment  of 
all  laws,  the  levying  of  all  direct  taxes,  the  granting  of  public 
privileges,  the  election  of  executive  and  judicial  officials  — 
in  short,  the  performance  of  all  the  fundamental  functions 
of  government.     The  Landesgemeinde  is  the  sovereign  organ 


THE   RULE   OF  THE   PEOPLE   IN   SWITZERLAND     207 

of  a  democracy  as  thoroughgoing  as  any  the  world  has  ever 
known. 

Every  canton,  whether  or  not  of  the  primary-assembly 
type,  has  an  elective  legislative  council,  or  Landrat.  In 
the  primary-assembly  cantons  the  council's  principal  func- 
tion is  the  preparing  and  submitting  of  measures,  and  its 
place  in  the  governmental  system  is  subsidiary.  In  all 
other  cantons,  however,  it  is  a  more  important  institution, 
for  it  comprises  the  only  law-making  body  which  is  ever 
brought  together  at  one  time  or  place.  Where  the  obliga- 
tory i2ferendum  exists  the  decisions  of  the  council  are  but 
provisional,  but  where  the  referendum  is  only  optional,  they 
acquire  in  many  matters  the  stamp  of  finality.  Members 
of  the  council  are  chosen  regularly  in  districts  by  direct  vote 
of  all  males  who  have  completed  their  twentieth  year  and 
are  in  possession  of  full  civil  rights. 

Of  the  referendum  there  are  traces  in  Switzerland  as  early 
as  the  sixteenth  century.  In  its  present  form,  however, 
the  institution  originated  in  the  canton  of  St.  Gall  in  1830, 
so  that  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  essentially  a  nineteenth  century 
creation.  The  principle  which  underlies  it  is  closely  akin 
to  a  fundamental  tenet  of  the  philosophy  of  Rousseau, 
namely,  that  laws  ought  to  be  enacted,  not  through  repre- 
sentatives, but  by  the  people  directly.  The  device  of  the 
referendum  may  be  applied  within  two  essentially  distinct 
fields  —  that  of  organic,  fundamental  law  (constitutions 
and  constitutional  amendments)  and  that  of  ordinary  statute 
law.  The  referendum  as  applied  to  constitutional  instru- 
ments exists  to-day  in  every  one  of  the  Swiss  cantons,  save, 
of  course,  those  in  which  the  existence  of  a  primary  assembly 
precludes  occasion  for  the  special  reference  of  either  con- 
stitutional or  legislative  questions.  It  is  in  no  sense,  however, 
peculiar  to  Switzerland.  The  principle  that  changes  in 
the  fundamental  law  shall  be  referred  directly  or  indirectly 
to  the  people  obtains  in  English-speaking  countries  generally, 


208    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

and  to  some  extent  elsewhere.  The  referendum  as  applied 
to  ordinary  laws,  on  the  other  hand,  is  in  origin  and 
spirit  distinctively  Swiss,  although  it  likewise  is  spreading 
among  English-speaking  peoples,  notably  in  Australasia 
and  the  United  States.  The  referendum  for  ordinary  laws 
exists  to-day  in  every  non-Landesgemeinde  portion  of  Swit- 
zerland save  the  canton  of  Freiburg.  The  constitutional 
referendum  is  in  all  cases  obligatory;  the  legislative  is  in 
some  cantons  obligatory,  in  others  optional.  Where  the 
legislative  referendum  is  obligatory,  every  enactment  of  the 
cantonal  legislative  council  must  be  submitted  to  popular 
vote.  Where  it  is  optional,  a  measure  is  referred  only  upon 
demand  of  a  specified  number  or  proportion  of  voters.  In 
cantons  of  this  second  class  a  petition  calling  for  a  referendum 
must  be  presented,  as  a  rule,  within  thirty  days  of  the  enact- 
ment of  the  measure  upon  which  it  is  proposed  that  a  vote 
be  taken.  The  number  of  signers  required  to  make  the 
petition  effective  varies  from  500  in  Zug  to  6000  in  St.  Gall. 
Similarly,  the  proportion  of  voters  which  is  competent  to 
throw  out  a  measure  is  variable.  In  some  cantons  a  majority 
of  all  enfranchised  citizens  is  required;  in  others,  a  simple 
majority  of  those  actually  voting  upon  the  proposition  in 
hand. 

The  complement  of  the  referendum  is  the  initiative. 
Through  the  exercise  of  the  one  the  people  may  prevent  the 
taking  effect  of  a  law  or  a  constitutional  amendment  to 
which  they  object.  Through  the  exercise  of  the  other  they 
may  not  merely  bring  desired  measures  to  the  attention  of 
the  legislative  chamber;  they  may  secure  the  enactment 
of  such  measures  in  the  teeth  of  the  indifference,  or  positive 
opposition,  of  that  body.  In  current  political  discussion, 
and  in  their  actual  operation,  the  two  are  apt  to  be  closely 
associated.  They  are,  however,  quite  distinct,  as  is  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  the  earliest  adoptions  of  the  initiative  in 
Switzerland  took  place  in  cantons  (Vaud  in  1845  and  Aargau 


THE  RULE   OF  THE   PEOPLE  IN   SWITZERLAND    209 

in  1852)  in  which  as  yet  the  referendum  did  not  exist.  Among 
the  cantons  the  right  of  popular  initiative  is  now  all  but 
universal.  As  a  rule,  measures  may  be  proposed  by  a  pro- 
portion of  voters  identical  with  that  which  is  competent  to 
overthrow  a  measure  referred  from  the  legislative  body; 
and  any  measure  proposed  by  the  requisite  number  of  voters 
must  be  taken  under  consideration  by  the  legislature  within 
a  stipulated  period.  If  the  legislature  desires  to  prepare 
a  counter-project  to  be  submitted  to  the  voters  along  with 
the  popularly  initiated  proposition,  it  may  do  so ;  but  the 
original  proposal  must  in  any  case  go  before  the  people, 
accompanied  by  the  legislature's  opinion  upon  it,  and  their 
verdict  is  decisive. 

Within  the  domain  of  the  federal  government  the  obli- 
gatory referendum  and  the  right  of  popular  initiative  have 
been  extended  thus  far  only  to  constitutional  instruments, 
not  to  ordinary  legislation.  The  obligatory  referendum  as 
applied  to  revisions  of  the  constitution  was  established  in 
1848.  The  right  of  popular  initiative  was  inaugurated  by 
an  amendment  of  July  5,  1891.  By  the  terms  of  the  last- 
mentioned  measure  either  total  or  partial  revision  of  the 
fundamental  law  may  be  initiated  by  petition  of  50,000 
enfranchised  citizens.  If  the  demand  is  for  a  total  revision, 
there  must  be  put  to  the  whole  people  the  preliminary  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  there  shall  be  a  revision  at  all.  If  the 
verdict  is  affirmative,  a  new  national  assembly  must  be  elected, 
and  to  it  falls  the  task  of  carrying  out  the  popular  mandate. 
If  the  demand  is  for  but  a  partial  revision,  the  suggested 
amendment  is  submitted  (the  procedure  varying  under 
different  conditions)  to  the  people  without  the  intervention 
of  a  general  election.  But  in  no  case  may  an  amendment 
be  put  in  operation  until  it  has  been  accorded  the  assent  of 
a  majority  of  those  voting  upon  it  in  a  majority  of  the  cantons. 

In  respect  to  all  ordinary  legislation  of  the  confederation 
the  referendum  is  as  yet  but  optional,  and  there  is  no  popular 


2io    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

initiative  at  all.  The  legislative  referendum,  borrowed  from 
long-established  cantonal  practice,  made  its  first  appearance 
in  the  national  constitutional  system  in  the  revised  funda- 
mental law  of  1874.  Under  its  operation  measures  passed 
by  the  Federal  Assembly  do  not  take  effect  normally  until 
after  the  lapse  of  a  probationary  period  of  ninety  days.  At 
any  time  within  the  ninety  days  following  its  enactment 
it  may  be  demanded,  either  by  the  people  directly  or  by  the 
cantonal  governments,  that  a  measure  of  the  Assembly  be 
submitted  to  a  referendum.  Petitions  signed  by  as  many  as 
30,000  voters,  or  adopted  by  the  legislatures  of  as  many  as 
eight  cantons,  render  it  obligatory  upon  the  Federal  Council 
to  arrange  for  a  referendum  upon  a  measure  within  four 
weeks  after  announcement  of  the  demand  has  been  made. 
The  method  of  the  referendum  is  carefully  prescribed. 
Every  male  citizen  in  possession  of  unimpaired  civil  rights 
is  entitled  to  vote,  and  the  voting  takes  place  under  the 
supervision  of  the  authorities  of  the  canton  and  of  the  com- 
mune. If  in  a  majority  of  the  cantons  a  preponderance  of 
votes  is  cast  in  favor  of  the  measure  in  hand,  the  Federal 
Council  proclaims  the  fact  and  the  measure  goes  at  once 
into  operation.  An  adverse  majority  renders  the  measure 
null.  In  the  event,  of  course,  that  no  referendum  is  demanded, 
the  measure  goes  automatically  into  effect  at  the  expiration 
of  the  ninety-day  period. 

The  introduction,  in  1874,  of  the  federal  referendum,  and 
likewise  that,  in  1891,  of  the  federal  initiative,  was  vigorously 
opposed  in  some  quarters,  and  to  this  day  there  has  been  no 
small  difference  of  opinion,  even  among  the  Swiss  themselves, 
respecting  the  efficacy  of  these  agencies  in  the  promotion 
of  stable  and  progressive  government.  By  common  agree- 
ment, however,  neither  has  resulted  in  the  haste,  waste,  or 
lack  of  continuity  in  the  management  of  public  affairs  which 
by  many  was  feared.  Between  1874  and  1906  the  referendum 
was  invoked  a  total  of  29  times  for  laws  and  resolutions  and 


THE  RULE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  IN  SWITZERLAND  21 1 

18  times  for  constitutional  amendments.  Of  the  29  legis- 
lative measures  voted  upon,  10  were  approved  and  19  were 
rejected.  Of  the  18  constitutional  projects,  12  were  accepted 
and  6  rejected.  The  proportion  of  ordinary  laws  falling 
within  the  range  of  the  system  which  have  been  sub- 
jected to  popular  vote,  while  varying  widely  from  time  to 
time,  has  averaged  not  far  from  ten  per  cent.  In  every 
instance  petition  for  a  referendum  has  arisen  directly  from 
the  people,  not  from  the  cantonal  governments.  On  the  side 
of  constitutional  amendment  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  dur- 
ing a  score  of  years  only  three  popularly  initiated  amendments 
have  been  incorporated  in  the  fundamental  law.  One,  in 
1893,  prohibited  the  Jewish  method  of  slaughtering  animals ; 
another,  in  1908,  authorized  for  the  first  time  legislation  by 
the  federal  authorities  upon  subjects  relating  to  the  trades 
and  professions ;  the  third,  also  in  1908,  prohibited  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  absinthe.  A  number  of  amendments 
proposed  have  been  rejected,  notably  that  of  1894  stipulating 
that  the  state  should  obligate  itself  to  provide  employment 
for  every  able-bodied  man,  and  those  of  1900  providing  for 
,  the  introduction  of  proportional  representation  in  the  election 
of  the  lower  legislative  branch  and  for  the  election  of  the 
executive  Federal  Council  directly  by  the  people. 

For  the  prevailing  Swiss  opinion  that  both  the  referendum 
and  the  initiative  work  conservatively  there  is  much  basis 
of  fact.  Certainly  it  is  true  that  those  great  progressive 
measures  by  which  within  the  past  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  the 
functions  of  the  federal  government  have  been  broadened,  the 
conditions  of  labor  have  been  ameliorated,  the  nationalization 
of  railways  and  of  the  alcohol  trade  has  been  accomplished, 
and  reforms  have  been  carried  out  in  finance,  law,  and  social 
organization,  ripened  within  the  national  legislative  assembly 
more  rapidly  than  throughout  the  country  at  large,  and,  in 
more  than  one  instance,  were  carried  only  after  having  been 
acted  upon  once  or  twice  by  the  people  unfavorably.     There 


212    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

are  those,  indeed,  by  whom  the  referendum  is  regarded  as 
essentially  an  agency  of  obstruction.  The  view  is  short- 
sighted, but  the  fact  that  it  can  be,  and  is,  seriously  main- 
tained, controverts  the  assumption  of  others  that  the  reference 
of  legislative  measures  to  the  people  necessarily  opens  the 
flood-gates  for  legislative  irresponsibility  and  for  public 
recklessness.  In  Switzerland  there  is  to-day  a  widespread 
demand  for  the  extension  of  the  initiative  and  of  the  obligatory 
referendum  to  all  federal  legislation.  In  1906  the  Federal 
Council  went  so  far  as  to  submit  to  the  legislative  assembly 
a  proposal  to  the  effect  that  50,000  voters,  or  eight  cantons, 
should  have  the  right  at  any  time  to  demand  the  passage, 
amendment,  or  repeal  of  any  federal  law  or  decree.  The 
proposal  was  not  adopted,  but  the  eventual  acceptance  of 
both  the  legislative  initiative  and  the  obligatory  referendum 
seems  not  improbable.  Granted  that  the  advanced  democ- 
racy of  Switzerland  is  to  be  adjudged  a  success,  it  does  not 
follow,  of  course,  that  results  attained  within  a  sphere 
so  restricted,  and  under  conditions  of  race,  religion,  and 
historical  tradition  so  unusual,  afford  proof  of  the  universal 
practicability  of  the  principles  that  have  been  described. 
The  social  and  industrial  well-being  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
Swiss  people  to-day  bears  witness,  however,  to  the  essential 
efficacy  of  these  principles  in  Switzerland,  and,  at  the  least, 
the  civilized  world  has  cause  to  be  grateful  for  the  experiments 
in  statecraft  which  the  Swiss  are  habitually  making. 


CHAPTER  XV 

PUBLIC   PROTECTION   OF   LABOR 

At  few  points  has  the  social  economy  of  Europe  undergone 
greater  change  since  the  eighteenth  century  than  in  respect 
to  the  conditions  attending  manual  labor.  Prior  to  1775 
in  England,  and  on  the  continent  prior  to  1840,  labor  was 
very  largely  rural  —  agricultural  or  agricultural  and  industrial 
combined.  Men  lived  very  generally  in  the  country,  in 
villages,  or  in  small  towns.  They  and  their  families  worked 
in  the  open  air  or  in  their  own  homes.  Life,  if  not  easy,  was 
at  least  simple.  The  introduction  of  machinery  and  steam- 
power,  however,  entailing  the  rise  of  the  factory  system, 
the  concentration  of  industry,  and  the  growth  of  cities, 
completely  altered  the  situation.  Large  masses  of  people 
were  tempted  or  obliged  to  abandon  the  life  of  the  country, 
and  the  new  industrial  centres  became  the  seats  of  hastily 
gathered,  ill-adjusted,  and  restless  populations.  However 
labor  may  have  been  exploited  under  the  old  conditions,  it 
was  rarely  subjected  to  a  strain  such  as  that  which  now  befell 
it.  Machines  could  run  day  and  night,  and  by  factory  and 
mill  operators  the  hours  for  employes  were  stretched  to  the 
utmost  limit.  Many  machines  did  not  require  the  attention 
of  full-grown  men,  and  women  and  children  were  given  the 
places  of  men  because  their  labor  was  cheaper.  In  mines, 
on  railways  and  steamships  lines,  and  even  in  the  public 
employ  hours,  wages,  and  other  conditions  of  labor  tended 
steadily  to  become  less  advantageous  for  the  workman. 
One  of  the  tremendous  tasks  of  the  nineteenth  century  came 
to  be  that  of  rescuing  labor  from  the  perils  into  which, 
under  the  pressure  of  industrial  change,  it  had  been  brought. 

213 


214    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

The  problem  arose  first  in  England,  because  there  the  new 
conditions  were  first  developed,  but  in  one  form  or  another 
it  presented  itself  eventually  in  every  part  of  Europe.  It 
will  be  sufficient  to  describe  somewhat  fully  the  method 
by  which  Great  Britain  dealt  with  the  problem,  and  after- 
wards to  allude  briefly  to  the  steps  taken  to  the  same  end 
elsewhere. 

The  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  as  has  been 
pointed  out,  was  in  England  a  period  of  widespread  discontent 
and  of  grave  distress.  The  causes  are  numerous  and  by  no 
means  easy  to  disentangle.  In  the  first  place,  there  were  the 
Napoleonic  wars,  by  which  were  entailed  exceptionally 
heavy  taxation.  In  the  second  place,  there  was  the  ultra- 
protectionist  policy  of  the  Corn  Laws,  whereby  food  was 
made  scarce,  and  its  cost  was  forced  not  infrequently  to  a 
starvation  level.  In  the  third  place,  there  was  dissatisfac- 
tion with  a  political  system  under  which  the  mass  of  the  people 
possessed  no  control  over  public  policy.  In  the  fourth  place, 
there  was  in  operation  a  peculiarly  ill-advised  poor  law,  under 
which  pauperism  and  dependency  tended  inevitably  to  be 
increased.  Finally,  there  was  the  enormous  dislocation  of 
labor  and  of  living  incident  to  the  Industrial  Revolution, 
together  with  a  long  train  of  abuses  by  which  the  various 
stages  of  the  transition  in  industry  and  in  agriculture  was 
accompanied. 

While  by  no  means  all  of  the  ills  of  the  period  can  properly 
be  ascribed  to  the  revolution  in  industry,  those  which  arose 
from  high  prices,  enclosures,  unemployment,  and  poverty 
but  accentuated  the  adverse  effects  of  the  new  industrialism. 
All  periods  of  rapid  industrial  change  are  times  of  hardship. 
A  machine  is  invented  and  a  man  is  deprived  of  the  one  kind 
of  employment  with  which  he  is  familiar.  A  factory  is  built 
and  the  workman  must  forsake  his  friends  and  associations  to 
remove  to  its  vicinity.  The  profits  of  labor  may  be  increased, 
though  often  they  are  not ;  but,  if  they  are,  the  disadvantages 


PUBLIC   PROTECTION   OF   LABOR  215 

of  the  new  life  may  quite  offset  the  gain.  Eventually  it  may 
prove  that,  by  reason  of  the  expansion  of  industry  and  of 
trade,  the  aggregate  demand  for  labor  is  enlarged,  and  the 
change  may  contribute  distinctly  to  the  working-man's  good. 
But,  for  a  time  at  least,  the  readjustment  is  likely  to  be 
disagreeable.  This  was  precisely  the  case  in  England  in  the 
later  eighteenth  and  earlier  nineteenth  centuries.  Between 
1740  and  1815  there  was  a  sixty-fold  increase  in  the  importa- 
tion of  cotton,  a  tenfold  increase  in  the  Yorkshire  clothing 
trade,  a  twenty-fold  increase  in  the  output  of  pig-iron,  a 
seven-fold  increase  in  the  total  volume  of  exports,  a  fivefold 
increase  in  the  total  volume  of  imports.  So  vast  an  aug- 
mentation of  industrial  and  commercial  activity  inevitably 
meant,  in  the  end,  a  greater  demand  for  labor,  higher  wages, 
and,  for  many  people  at  least,  improved  conditions  of  living. 
But  during  the  earlier  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
transition  had  gone  so  far  only  as  to  be  productive  of  the 
minimum  of  benefits  and  the  maximum  of  evils.  In  their 
zeal  for  the  extension  of  industrial  operations  and  the  piling 
up  of  profits,  the  great  factory  owners  were  as  yet  blind  or 
indifferent  to  the  conditions  that  attended  the  existence  of 
their  employes  and  unappreciative  of  the  principle,  so  com- 
monly recognized  in  these  days,  that  in  the  most  successful 
industry  the  interests  of  capital  and  labor  are  bound  up 
intimately  together.  Women  and  children  were  brought 
into  the  factories,  because  they  were  able  to  operate  the  new 
machines  as  well  as  could  men,  because  they  were  easy  to 
control,  and  because  they  would  work  for  lower  wages. 
The  hours  of  labor  were  drawn  out  to  fourteen,  fifteen,  even 
seventeen,  a  day,  because  profits  increased  in  proportion  to 
output.  Precautions  in  respect  to  safety  and  sanitation 
were  neglected,  because  they  cost  money,  and  there  was 
nobody  to  require  them  to  be  exercised.  Wages  were  kept 
low,  because  labor  was  plentiful.  Mills  too  often  became 
veritable  prisons  in  which  men,  women,  and  children  toiled 


2l6    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

long  hours,  relieved  only  by  scant  sleep  in  fetid  and  cheerless 
homes,  working  until  work  developed  disease  and  deformity, 
and  in  many  instances  brought  early  death.  The  beginnings 
of  the  factory  system  were  indeed  grounded  in  social  misery, 
and  no  one  who  has  not  read  the  harrowing  details  as  set 
forth  in  the  scores  of  Blue-books  containing  the  records  of 
numerous  investigating  commissions  during  the  first  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century  can  appreciate  the  depth  of  injustice 
and  degradation  into  which  English  labor  was  plunged  by  the 
rise  of  the  modern  mill  and  workshop.  "A  great  wrong 
was  done,"  says  an  English  writer,  "partly  through  greed, 
partly  through  ignorance,  a  wrong  so  bitterly  felt  and  bit- 
terly resented  that  not  all  the  prosperity  which  England  has 
enjoyed  in  the  last  sixty  years,  not  all  the  concessions  which 
the  law  has  enjoined  and  the  employers  have  yielded,  have 
been  able  to  bring  back  a  good  understanding  between  labor 
and  capital,  or  alter  the  poor  man's  fixed  idea  that  he  is 
being  exploited  for  the  benefit  of  the  rich."  * 

Until  comparatively  late  neither  public  opinion  nor  law 
did  much  to  relieve  the  situation.  The  period  was  one  in 
which  the  preponderating  social  and  economic  principle  was 
that  of  laissez-faire.  The  doctrine  arose  originally  from  the 
economic  teaching  of  Adam  Smith  and  represented  a  reaction 
against  the  restrictionist  principles  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  century  mercantilist  school.  It  was  intended  to 
be  applied  more  specifically  to  trade,  but  its  advocates 
carried  it  into  every  department  of  economic  affairs.  The 
purport  of  it  was  that  the  growth  of  wealth  and  of  pros- 
perity would  be  best  promoted  by  allowing  to  the  individual 
a  broad  freedom  of  action  and  by  the  abstention  of  the  state 
from  interference  in  economic  concerns.  Its  more  purely  social 
application  was  stated  by  Malthus  in  the  words  :  "By  making 
the  passion  of  self-love  beyond  comparison  stronger  than  the 
passion  of  benevolence,  the  more  ignorant  are  led  to  pursue 
1  Warner,  "Landmarks  in  English  Industrial  History,"  310. 


PUBLIC   PROTECTION  OF   LABOR  217 

the  general  happiness,  an  end  they  would  have  totally  failed 
to  attain  if  the  ruling  principle  of  their  conduct  had  been 
benevolence."  In  practical  effect,  acceptance  of  the  prin- 
ciple was  equivalent  to  the  assumption  that  all  was  well  with 
the  world,  whatever  the  appearances  to  the  contrary.  At 
the  least,  it  meant  that  what  was  wrong  would  be  righted  in 
the  natural  course  of  things  and  without  occasion  for  public 
interference. 

The  delusion  was  a  comfortable  one,  and  England  aban- 
doned it  with  extreme  reluctance.  During  a  prolonged 
period  such  demands  as  were  made  for  national  legislation 
respecting  the  conditions  of  industry  fell  upon  deaf  ears. 
Those  who  complained  were  informed  by  the  new  school  of 
economists  that  their  demands  were  contrary  to  the  immu- 
table laws  of  industrial  progress.  Slowly,  however,  the 
iniquities  of  existing  conditions  burned  themselves  in  upon 
the  consciences  of  liberal-minded  men,  including  not  a  few 
of  the  capitalists  themselves,  and  eventually  public  sentiment 
was  brought  to  the  point  of  supporting  and  demanding 
legislative  relief.  The  arousing  of  widespread  and  influ- 
ential feeling  upon  the  subject  can  be  traced  to  a  date  as 
early  as  1784,  at  which  time  a  serious  outbreak  of  fever  in 
cotton  mills  near  Manchester  directed  attention  to  the  over- 
work of  children,  under  highly  dangerous  and  wretchedly 
unsanitary  conditions,  which  the  factory  system  even  at 
that  time  generally  involved.  In  1795  the  Manchester 
board  of  health  definitely  advised  legislation  for  the  regula- 
tion of  the  hours  and  conditions  of  factory  labor.  In  1802 
Sir  Robert  Peel  directed  the  attention  of  Parliament  to  what 
was  perhaps  the  most  crying  abuse  of  the  day,  i.e.,  the  miser- 
able conditions  of  apprentices  in  cotton  mills,  and  did  it 
with  such  force  that  he  was  able  to  bring  about  the  enactment 
of  the  first  statute  in  English  history  relating  to  factory 
employment.  In  their  anxiety  to  relieve  the  ratepayers  the 
authorities  of  the  parishes,  it  developed,  were  accustomed 


2l8    SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

to  dispose  of  pauper  children  as  apprentices,  transporting 
them  to  the  mills,  where,  while  nominally  ''learning  a  trade," 
they  were  reduced  to  veritable  slavery.  Men  made  a  busi- 
ness of  procuring  and  supplying  apprentices,  bringing  to- 
gether gangs  of  workhouse  children  from  neighboring  parishes 
and  conveying  them  by  wagons  or  canal-boats  to  factory 
districts  where  they  were  likely  to  be  wanted,  subsequently 
disposing  of  them  on  the  best  terms  possible  to  factory 
owners  in  need  of  "hands."  Apprentices  were  lodged  and 
fed,  under  conditions  that  were  execrable,  in  cheap  houses 
adjoining  the  factories ;  they  were  placed  in  charge  of  over- 
seers whose  pay  was  dependent  upon  the  amount  of  work 
they  could  compel  to  be  accomplished;  they  were  flogged, 
fettered,  and  tortured,  and  in  general  subjected  to  cruelty 
and  repression  which  far  exceeded  that  occasionally  prac- 
tised in  the  same  period  in  the  slave  states  of  America. 
Meagre  pay  was  sometimes  provided,  but  as  a  rule  the  ap- 
prentice's only  compensation  was  poor  and  insufficient  food, 
the  cheapest  sort  of  clothing,  and  a  place  to  sleep  in  a  filthy 
shed. 

Peel's  "Health  and  Morals  Act  to  regulate  the  Labor  of 
Bound  Children  in  Cotton  Factories"  prohibited  the  binding 
out  for  factory  labor  of  children  under  nine  years  of  age, 
restricted  the  number  of  working  hours  in  the  day  to  twelve, 
forbade  night  labor,  required  that  the  walls  of  factories  in 
which  such  children  were  employed  be  whitewashed  and 
that  the  buildings  be  properly  ventilated,  prescribed  that 
every  apprentice  be  given  at  least  one  new  suit  of  clothes  a 
year,  and  required  that  bound  children  be  made  to  attend 
religious  services  and  to  receive  an  elementary  education. 
That  the  prohibition  of  the  employment  of  apprenticed 
children  under  nine  and  the  reduction  of  the  working  day  for 
children  to  twelve  hours  comprised  a  distinct  improvement 
upon  former  conditions  is  a  sufficiently  striking  commentary 
upon  the  nature  of  those  conditions.     The  act  is  a  landmark 


PUBLIC  PROTECTION  OF   LABOR  219 

in  the  history  of  labor  legislation,  but  its  scope  was  so  re- 
stricted that  it  can  be  said  to  have  touched  only  the  fringe 
of  the  problem.  It  applied  only  to  cotton  factories  in  which 
as  many  as  twenty  persons  and  three  apprentices  were 
employed,  and  only  to  children  who  were  apprenticed.  It 
did  not  affect  the  state  of  the  great  number  of  children  who, 
at  all  ages,  accompanied  their  parents  to  the  factory  at  six 
in  the  morning  and  worked  on  and  on  until  seven,  or  eight, 
or  nine  at  night,  with  insufficient  sleep,  no  fixed  meal  time, 
no  leisure,  and  no  education. 

After  1802  the  arm  of  the  state  was  quite  benumbed  by 
the  laissez-faire  ideal,  and  many  years  elapsed  without  further 
action.  The  Health  and  Morals  statute  contained  a  pro- 
vision that  the  county  justices  should  appoint  "visitors," 
or  inspectors,  to  see  that  the  law  was  enforced,  and  the 
amelioration  of  apprentice  conditions  was  undoubtedly 
considerable.  Violations,  however,  were  easy  and  frequent, 
and  at  the  best  the  reform  was  but  a  beginning.  At  the 
close  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  Peel  called  up  the  subject  again 
for  parliamentary  consideration.  Peel  himself  employed 
upwards  of  a  thousand  children  in  his  factories,  but  he  was 
deeply  concerned  regarding  the  abuses  that  were  practised 
and  stood  ready  at  all  times  to  lead  in  the  adoption  of  remedial 
measures.  In  181 5  he  secured  the  appointment  of  a  special 
parliamentary  committee  charged  with  an  investigation  of 
the  entire  problem,  and  in  18 19  he,  together  with  another 
great  manufacturer,  Robert  Owen,  brought  about  the  enact- 
ment of  a  law  by  which  it  was  provided  that  no  child  under 
the  age  of  nine  should  be  admitted  to  a  cotton  factory,  and 
that  no  person  under  sixteen  should  be  required  to  work  in 
excess  of  twelve  hours  a  day.  It  had  been  the  hope  of  its 
authors  to  make  this  measure  apply  to  factories  of  every 
sort,  but  in  the  end  they  were  obliged  to  accept  a  compromise. 
The  act  of  1819  was  important,  however,  because  with  the 
growing  application  of  steam-power  in  the  textile  industries 


220    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

after  1815  the  employment  of  children  otherwise  than  under 
the  apprentice  system  was  tending  rapidly  to  be  increased. 

In  1825  and  1831  the  act  of  18 19  was  extended  slightly, 
but  it  was  not  until  1833  that  there  was  passed  the  first 
really  great  measure  applying  to  the  textile  industries  gener- 
ally. The  decade  which  preceded  the  enactment  of  this 
measure  was  filled  with  agitation.  The  subject  was  debated 
many  times  in  Parliament ;  it  was  investigated  by  several 
government  commissions ;  it  was  widely  discussed  in  news- 
papers and  pamphlets  and  on  the  platform  and  in  the  pulpit. 
The  leaders  of  the  reform  movement  were  Michael  Sadler, 
Richard  Oastler,  Robert  Owen,  and,  especially  after  1832, 
Lord  Ashley,  later  seventh  earl  of  Shaftesbury.  Lord  Ashley 
is  to  be  reckoned  the  most  eloquent  champion  of  the  English 
laboring  classes  during  the  nineteenth  century.  Such  was 
his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  oppressed  that  he  was 
constrained  to  cast  aside  ease,  influence,  and  friends,  and  to 
throw  himself  unreservedly  into  the  fight  for  what  was, 
among  people  of  his  station,  an  unpopular  cause.  In  the 
reformed  parliament  of  1833  Sadler  lost  his  seat,  and  it 
devolved  upon  Ashley  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  struggle  by 
which  the  enactment  of  the  law  of  1833  was  immediately 
preceded.  This  act,  like  most  such  measures,  was  a  com- 
promise. It  did  not  stipulate  the  ten-hour  day  which  Ashley 
advocated,  but  it  marked  a  very  great  advance  upon  the  laws 
previously  in  effect.  It  applied  not  only  to  cotton,  but  also 
to  woollen,  hemp,  flax,  tow,  and  linen  mills.  It  fixed  the 
maximum  hours  of  labor  for  children  under  thirteen  at  nine 
a  day  and  forty-eight  a  week,  and  for  persons  under  eighteen 
at  twelve  a  day  and  sixty-nine  a  week.  It  prohibited  work 
by  persons  under  eighteen  in  any  kind  of  factory  between  the 
hours  of  8.30  p.m.  and  5.30  a.m.  It  stipulated  that  child 
laborers  should  be  given  an  average  of  two  hours'  schooling  a 
day,  and  that  two  whole,  and  eight  half,  holidays  should  be 
allowed  in  the  course  of  every  year.     For  the  first  time  pro- 


PUBLIC  PROTECTION  OF  LABOR        221 

vision  was  made  for  skilled  inspectors  who  should  comprise  an 
independent  body  of  men  unconnected  with  the  locality  in 
which  the  factories  were  situated,  and  whose  specialization 
in  their  work  might  enable  them  to  acquire  information  needed 
for  the  further  development  of  legislation  for  labor  protec- 
tion. The  act  left  much  to  be  done,  but  some  idea  of  its 
effectiveness  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  whereas  in 
1833  there  were  more  than  56,000  children  employed  in  3000 
mills,  by  1838  there  were  only  29,000  children  in  4000  es- 
tablishments. Under  the  leadership  of  Ashley  the  movement 
for  a  ten-hour  day  for  protected  workers  was  continued, 
although  its  success  was  delayed  a  decade  and  a  half. 

By  an  important  act  of  1844  the  hours  of  adult  women  were 
first  regulated,  being  fixed,  as  were  those  of  "young  persons," 
i.e.,  persons  between  the  ages  of  thirteen  and  eighteen,  at  a 
maximum  of  twelve  a  day.  Children's  hours  were  at  this 
time  further  reduced  by  an  arrangement  under  which  em- 
ployes under  thirteen  years  of  age  were  permitted  either  to 
work  the  same  hours  on  alternate  days  or  half-time  every 
day,  with  compulsory  school  attendance  as  a  condition  of 
employment.  Times  for  meals  were  more  closely  regulated, 
and  work  after  4.30  p.m.  on  Saturdays  was  forbidden.  And 
for  the  first  time  penal  compensation  was  provided  by  statute 
for  preventable  injuries  arising  from  unenclosed  machinery. 
On  the  threat  of  Peel  to  resign  if  it  were  adopted,  Ashley's 
amendment  of  Lhis  measure  stipulating  a  maximum  ten-hour 
day  was  rejected ;  but  in  1847  a  proposal  of  Fielden  that  on 
and  after  May  1,  1848,  the  maximum  working  day  for  all 
women  and  "young  persons"  in  the  textile  industries  be  ten 
hours  was  enacted  into  law.  The  mill-owners  continued  to 
keep  their  factories  open  twelve,  fifteen,  and  even  twenty 
hours  a  day,  working  their  employes  in  shifts  to  evade  the 
requirements  of  law.  There  was  passed,  accordingly,  in 
1850,  a  measure  which  restricted  the  working  day  for  all 
women  and  "young  persons"  to  the  hours  between  6  a.m. 


222    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

and  6  p.m.  in  summer  and  7  a.m.  and  7  p.m.  in  winter,  no  pro- 
tected worker  being  allowed  to  labor  after  2  p.m.  on  Saturdays. 
By  an  act  of  1853  the  same  rule  was  extended  to  children. 
Although  the  measures  that  have  been  described  applied 
only  to  the  textile  industries,  and  only  to  persons  under 
eighteen  and  to  women,  they  served  practically  to  fix  the 
limitations  of  the  English  working  day.  After  1853  it  but 
remained  to  carry  them  over  into  one  after  another  of  the 
various  departments  of  industry  which  were  as  yet  untouched, 
and  in  a  long  series  of  measures  during  the  sixties  and  seventies 
this  was  gradually  accomplished.  Thus  in  i860  were  regu- 
lated bleaching  works,  in  1861  dyeing  establishments,  in 
1863  bakehouses,  in  1864  potteries,  lucifer-match  factories, 
and  percussion  cap  and  cartridge  factories,  and  in  1867  a 
large  number  of  industrial  enterprises  as  yet  immune  from 
public  supervision.  The  act  of  1864  was  of  special  importance 
in  that  in  it  appeared  for  the  first  time  regulations  requiring 
ventilation  to  be  applied  to  the  removal  of  injurious  gases, 
dust,  and  other  impurities  generated  in  the  processes  of 
manufacture.  A  Sanitary  Act  of  1886  and  a  Workshops 
Regulation  Act  of  1867,  both  to  be  administered  by  local 
authorities,  virtually  completed  the  application  of  the  essen- 
tial principle  of  factory  legislation  to  all  places  in  which 
manual  labor  was  employed  for  gain  in  the  making  or  finish- 
ing of  articles  or  parts  of  articles  of  merchandise.  Inves- 
tigations into  the  conditions  of  child  labor  continued  to  be 
made,  occasionally  with  startling  results,  and  in  1874  an 
act  was  passed  by  which  the  minimum  age  of  employment 
of  children  in  textile  factories  was  raised  to  ten  years.  In 
1876  there  was  created  a  Commission  on  the  Factory  Acts, 
and  two  years  later  there  was  passed  an  elaborate  measure 
in  which  the  factory  legislation  of  the  past  three-quarters 
of  a  century  was  simplified  and  systematized;  and  this 
consolidated  act  continued  in  effect,  with  some  modifications, 
until  replaced,  January  1,  1902,  by  the  revised  and  further 


PUBLIC  PROTECTION  OF  LABOR 


223 


consolidated  measure,  passed  in   1901,  which  is  to-day  in 
operation. 

The  range  covered  by  the  statutes  of  1878  and  1901  is 
enormous.  Subjects  dealt  with  in  detail  include  the  age  and 
physical  fitness  of  workers,  hours,  sanitation,  security  against 
accidents,  and  the  special  conditions  attending  the  trades 
that  are  unusually  dangerous.  It  is  possible  here  barely 
to  mention  a  few  present-day  regulations  as  an  indication  of 
the  measure  of  progress  that  has  been  attained.  In  the  first 
place,  the  act  of  1901  made  the  prohibition  of  the  employ- 
ment of  a  child  under  twelve  in  any  kind  of  factory  or  work- 
shop *  direct  and  absolute.  Certificates  of  physical  fitness 
for  employment  must  be  obtained  by  the  employer  from  the 
certifying  surgeon  for  the  district  for  all  persons  under  six- 
teen years  of  age  employed  in  a  factory  and,  under  certain 
conditions,  in  a  workshop.  The  employment  of  children, 
young  persons,  and  women  is  regulated  minutely  as  regards 
ordinary  and  exceptional  hours  of  work,  ordinary  and  excep- 
tional meal-times,  maximum  of  continuous  hours  of  work, 
and  number  and  length  of  holidays.  In  textile  factories 
the  hours  of  labor  must  fall  between  6  a.m.  and  6  p.m.  in 
summer,  and  between  7  a.m.  and  7  p.m.  in  winter,  with  a 
minimum  aggregate  of  two  hours'  interval  for  meals  out  of 
the  twelve,  a  limit  of  four  and  a  half  hours  of  work  at  a 
stretch,  a  Saturday  half-holiday,  and  under  no  conditions 
work  overtime.  In  non-textile  establishments  the  ten-hour 
day  prevails,  but  the  limitations  imposed  upon  the  employer 
are  somewhat  less  rigorous.  Night  work  is  allowed  in  certain 
specified  industries,  under  conditions,  for  male  workers,  but 

1  As  technically  defined  by  English  law,  a  "factory"  is,  with  a  few  stipulated 
exceptions,  a  work-place  where  manual  labor  is  exercised  for  gain  in  or  incidental 
to  the  making,  repairing,  or  finishing  of  any  article  or  part  of  article,  and  in 
which  steam,  water,  or  other  mechanical  power  is  employed  in  aid  of  the  manu- 
facturing process.  A  place  of  manufacture  where  such  power  is  not  employed 
is  a  "workshop."  Factories  are  dealt  with  by  the  law  under  two  categories 
—  textile  and  non-textile. 


224    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

for  no  other  workers  under  eighteen,  and  overtime  for  women 
may  never  be  later  than  10  p.m.  or  earlier  than  6  a.m.  In  all 
establishments  six  holidays  must  be  allowed  in  the  year,  and, 
except  for  Jews,  under  stipulated  conditions,  Sunday  labor 
is  forbidden.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  persons  to  whom 
these  regulations  apply  are,  strictly,  (i)  children,  i.e.,  be- 
tween the  ages  of  twelve  and  fourteen ;  (2)  young  persons, 
i.e.,  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  (thirteen,  if  the  necessary 
educational  certificate  has  been  obtained)  and  eighteen ; 
and  (3)  women  of  all  ages  above  eighteen.  There  is,  however, 
a  vast  body  of  regulations  respecting  sanitation  and  safety 
in  the  conduct  of  manufacturing  processes  which,  broadly, 
apply  to  male  employes  equally  with  the  "protected" 
classes.  These  regulations  cannot  even  be  summarized  here, 
but  they  form  a  very  essential  part  of  the  existing  labor- 
protection  scheme. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  also,  that  parallel  with  the  develop- 
ment of  protective  legislation  in  respect  to  factories  and  work- 
shops has  been  the  growth  of  similar  legislation  respecting 
the  hours  and  conditions  of  labor  in  mines.  The  first  Mines 
Act  was  passed  in  1S42  in  consequence  of  sickening  revelations 
made  by  a  Commission  on  Labor  of  Young  Persons  in  Mines 
and  Manufactures  appointed  in  1842.  This  measure  pro- 
hibited the  employment  of  women  and  girls,  and  of  boys 
less  than  ten  years  of  age,  underground ;  but  it  was  not 
until  1850  that  the  reporting  and  explanation  of  fatal  acci- 
dents, and  not  until  1835  that  other  safeguards  for  health, 
life,  and  limb  in  mines,  were  systematically  required  by  law. 
The  principal  statute  upon  the  subject  at  present  in  force  is 
the  Coal  Mines  Act  of  1872,  based  on  the  recommendations 
of  a  commission  which  reported  in  1864  and  amended  at 
several  points  in  1886, 1887,  1894,  1896, 1900,  1903,  and  1906. 
The  prohibition  of  the  employment  of  women  and  girls 
underground  remains  untouched,  and  the  minimum  age  at 
which  boys  may  be  employed  underground  has  been  raised 


PUBLIC   PROTECTION  OF   LABOR  225 

successively,  from  ten  in  1872  to  twelve  in  1884  and  thirteen 
in  1900.  The  minimum  age  at  which  boys  and  girls  may  be 
employed  above  ground  in  connection  with  any  mine,  fixed 
at  ten  years  in  1872,  was  raised  in  1887  to  twelve.  The  hours 
of  employment  of  a  boy  underground  may  not  exceed  fifty- 
four  in  any  one  week ;  and  in  1908  an  act  was  passed  by  which 
it  is  stipulated  that  no  workman,  adult  or  otherwise,  may 
be  required  to  remain  below  ground  in  a  mine  for  the  purpose 
of  ordinary  work  more  than  eight  hours  in  any  consecutive 
twenty-four. 

In  every  country  on  the  continent  in  which  industry  has 
assumed  any  considerable  importance  there  exists  to-day 
a  more  or  less  elaborate  code  of  law  by  which  are  regulated, 
in  the  interest  of  the  worker,  the  conditions  attending  fac- 
tory, mine,  and  even  farm,  labor.  These  codes  are  in  all 
cases  the  product  of  the  nineteenth  century,  most  of  them  of 
the  period  since  1850.  To  speak  of  them  individually  is 
here  impossible,  but  certain  general  facts  regarding  them 
are  worth  observing.  In  the  first  place,  in  most  continental 
countries  regulations  concerning  the  maximum  hours  of 
labor  apply  indiscriminately  to  all  laborers,  male  and  female, 
and  of  all  ages.  The  maximum  prescribed  is  commonly 
eleven  hours  a  day,  although  in  France  it  is  nominally  ten. 
A  second  fact  is  that  there  is  rarely  provision  for  a  weekly 
half-holiday,  which  is  peculiarly  an  English  institution. 
The  rule  of  Sunday  cessation  of  labor  has  been  extended  in 
several  countries,  most  recently  in  Belgium  and  Spain.  In 
France  there  has  been  since  1892  a  legal  seventh-day  rest, 
which,  however,  under  law  of  1906  may  or  may  not  fall  upon 
Sunday.  In  but  few  instances  is  the  regulation  of  labor  in 
mines  as  thoroughgoing  as  in  Great  Britain,  but  in  some 
cases,  especially  in  Germany,  control  of  factory  and  shop 
sanitation  has  been  carried  somewhat  beyond  the  point  yet 
attained  under  the  English  system. 

In  France  the  maximum  working  day  for  all  laborers  was 
Q 


226    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

fixed  as  early  as  1848  at  twelve  hours.  In  1902,  as  stipulated 
by  an  earlier  statute,  it  was  reduced  to  ten  and  one-half, 
and  in  1904  to  ten.  Under  law  of  1892,  amended  in  1900, 
factory  and  workshop  labor  is  prohibited  for  children  under 
thirteen  years  of  age  1  and  night  labor  is  forbidden  for  workers 
under  eighteen  and  is  allowed  in  the  case  of  women  only  in 
specified  trades.  General  sanitation  in  industrial  establish- 
ments is  provided  for  in  a  comprehensive  statute  of  1893, 
amended  in  1903.  In  Germany  conditions  of  labor  are  regu- 
lated by  an  Imperial  Industrial  Code,  based  upon  the  earlier 
industrial  legislation  of  the  several  German  states,  and  more 
directly  upon  the  Code  of  1869  of  the  North  German  Federa- 
tion. Under  the  provisions  of  this  Code  broad  discretion  is 
left  to  the  Imperial  authorities  to  promulgate  administrative 
regulations  relating  to  industrial  affairs ;  it  is  in  this  manner 
that  many  of  the  measures  to-day  in  effect  have  originated. 

Austria  has  an  extensive  Industrial  Code  dating  from  1883. 
Belgium  has  an  advanced  body  of  regulations  beginning  in 
1863  and  culminating  in  the  law  of  Sunday  rest  of  1905. 
Holland's  system  of  labor  control  dates  from  1874.  In 
Switzerland  separate  cantonal  legislation  prepared  the  way 
for  the  federal  labor  law  of  1877  which  has  been  the  basis 
of  all  subsequent  legislation  upon  the  subject.  Norway's 
law  of  1872,  Sweden's  of  1901,  and  Denmark's  of  1901  are 
as  liberal  as  any  in  Europe.  Even  in  Italy  and  Spain,  where 
until  recently  the  conditions  attending  the  employment  of 
women  and  children  in  industrial  establishments  were 
appalling,  notable  progress  has  been  realized  —  in  Italy 
under  the  laws  of  1886  and  1902,  in  Spain  under  those  of 
1900  and  1904.2 

1  Twelve,  if  the  requisite  educational  and  medical  certificates  can  be  presented. 

'Two  important  agencies  through  which,  aside  from  the  state  control  that 
has  been  described  in  this  chapter,  the  interests  of  labor  are  protected  will  be 
discussed  in  later  chapters.  One  is  insurance  against  occupational  accidents 
(see  chaps.  XVII  and  XVIII),-  the  other  is  the  formation  of  labor  unions  (see 
chap.  XIX). 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  CARE  OF   THE   POOR 

Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  the  administration  of 
charity,  like  that  of  education,  was  distinctively  a  function 
of  the  Church.  With  the  lot  of  the  poor  the  state  rarely 
concerned  itself,  and  agencies  of  private  philanthropy  were 
extremely  uncommon.  On  the  whole,  the  Church  performed 
a  necessary  service  with  laudable  zeal.  But  there  was  little 
uniformity  of  principle  or  regularity  of  practice.  Into  the 
causes  of  destitution  and  the  means  of  its  prevention  no  inquiry 
was  made,  and  as  a  rule  application  for  relief  was  followed 
by  indiscriminate  grants  to  the  deserving  and  the  undeserving 
alike.  The  inevitable  consequence  was  that  the  machinery 
which  existed  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  poverty  operated 
in  no  small  measure  also  to  augment  and  to  perpetuate  it. 
In  the  course  of  time,  however,  the  idea  gradually  took  hold 
that  it  is  properly  a  function  of  the  state  both  to  regulate 
the  conditions  of  economic  life  by  which  the  welfare  of  men 
is  determined  and  to  make  suitable  provision  for  the  care  of 
the  ever  present  element  of  the  unfortunate,  the  dependent, 
and  the  destitute.  This  idea  developed  more  slowly  on  the 
continent  than  in  England,  but  with  the  changes  that  came 
in  the  train  of  the  French  Revolution  it  may  be  said  to  have 
become  established  universally  in  western  Europe. 

In  England  the  new  position  acquired  by  the  Church  in 
the  days  of  Henry  VIII.,  the  sweeping  away  of  the  monas- 
teries, the  enclosure  of  the  common  lands,  the  final  break-up 
of  the  manorial  system,  and  the  gathering  of  considerable 
populations  in  the  towns  cooperated  to  place  upon  the  ad- 
ministration of  charity  a  wholly  new  aspect  as  early  as  the 

227 


228    SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

sixteenth  century.  Pauperism,  increased  in  volume  and  in 
seriousness,  acquired  the  character  of  a  national  institution. 
During  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  there  had  been 
much  legislation  designed  to  regulate  the  conditions  of  labor. 
Successive  penal  statutes  had  sought  to  confine  the  laborer 
to  the  place  of  his  birth  and  to  compel  him  to  work  for  wages 
fixed  at  infrequent  intervals  by  his  employers.  But  prior 
to  Henry  VIII.  there  had  been  no  such  thing  as  a  "poor  law." 
It  was  in  1536  that  Parliament  first  formally  recognized  and 
undertook  to  cope  with  the  problem  of  the  pauper.  In  a 
statute  of  that  year,  enacting  that  voluntary  alms  should  be 
collected  in  each  parish  for  the  relief  of  the  helpless  poor,  the 
distinction  was  for  the  first  time  clearly  drawn  between 
"poor  impotent,  sick,  and  diseased  people,  not  being  able 
to  work,  who  may  be  provided  for,  holpen,  and  relieved," 
and  "such  as  be  lusty,  who,  having  their  limbs  strong  enough 
to  labor,  may  be  daily  kept  in  continual  labor,  whereby 
every  one  of  them  may  get  their  own  living  with  their  own 
hands."  The  principle  here  laid  down,  i.e.,  that  the  impotent 
poor  should  be  cared  for  from  public  alms,  while  the  able- 
bodied  poor  should  be  put  to  work,  underlies  a  long  series  of 
sixteenth  century  statutes.  An  act  of  1551  stipulated  that 
the  man  who  should  refuse  to  contribute  voluntarily  to  the 
relief  of  the  poor  should  be  interviewed  by  the  justice  of  the 
peace  of  his  parish,  who,  after  "charitably  and  gently  per- 
suading him,"  should  levy  a  tax  upon  him  in  any  amount 
that  seemed  reasonable. 

In  1 60 1  there  was  passed  a  memorable  measure  which  has 
been  denominated  the  "foundation  and  text-book  of  English 
poor  law."  With  some  modification  it  continued  the  basis 
of  English  public  charity  until  1834,  and  in  a  degree  was 
perpetuated  in  the  statute  of  that  year.  It  dealt,  in  the 
main,  with  the  authorities,  the  funds,  the  recipients,  and  the 
methods  of  poor  relief.  In  the  first  place,  it  stipulated  that 
in   each   parish    two   or   more    "substantial   householders" 


THE   CARE  OF  THE  POOR  229 

should  be  nominated  annually  by  the  justice  of  the  peace 
to  serve  as  overseers  of  the  poor.  The  requisite  funds  were 
to  be  raised  by  the  overseers,  "weekly  or  otherwise,"  by 
taxes  assessed  upon  all  inhabitants  of  the  parish,  the  parson 
heading  the  list ;  and  thus  the  principle  of  obligatory  con- 
tribution, half-concealed  in  the  act  of  1551,  was  adopted 
openly  and  universally.  In  respect  to  the  recipients  of 
relief  a  distinction  was  drawn  among  three  several  classes, 
and  the  methods  to  be  pursued  were  defined  accordingly. 
The  first  class  was  composed  of  children  whose  parents 
could  not  provide  for  them.  These  were  to  be  apprenticed, 
until  the  age  of  twenty-four  in  the  case  of  boys,  until  that  of 
twenty-one  (or  marriage)  in  the  case  of  girls.  The  second 
class  comprised  adults  able  to  work  but  without  employ- 
ment. These  were  to  be  set  to  work,  if  need  be  upon  a 
"stock"  of  flax,  hemp,  wool,  iron,  or  other  material  provided 
by  the  overseers.  The  third  class  included  the  aged,  the  blind, 
the  lame,  and  such  other  persons  as  were  unable  to  labor. 
These  were  to  be  relieved  outright.  The  essential  principles 
of  this  measure  were  beyond  criticism ;  but  by  variety  of  amend- 
ments and  supplementary  acts  during  the  ensuing  two  hun- 
dred years  the  operation  of  these  principles  was  seriously 
deflected  from  the  channels  that  had  been  contemplated. 

First  among  the  more  important  of  these  modifying  meas- 
ures was  the  Law  of  Settlement  of  1662,  which  provided 
that  laborers  removing  to  a  new  parish,  though  not  seeking 
or  in  need  of  charity,  might  be  sent  back  within  forty  days 
to  their  original  homes  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  their 
becoming  eventually  "rogues  and  vagabonds,"  and  so  a 
burden  to  their  adopted  parish.  The  effect  of  this  statute 
was  not  only  to  divide  the  kingdom  into  14,000  warring 
communities,  each  seeking  to  throw  its  burden  of  charity 
upon  its  neighbors,  but  to  render  it  next  to  impossible  for 
a  workingman  to  seek  employment  or  better  wages  at  a 
distance  from  his  home.     Labor  was  restrained  from  going 


230    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

where  there  was  demand  for  it,  just  as  it  had  been  by  the 
successive  "statutes  of  laborers"  of  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries.  A  second  act,  that  of  1691,  provided 
that  there  should  be  kept  a  register  of  paupers  and  of  the  relief 
given  them,  but  permitted  the  giving  of  relief  on  the  order 
of  a  justice  of  the  peace  or  of  the  bench  of  justices  at  Quarter 
Sessions.  The  intention  was  to  impart  to  the  system  at 
the  same  time  more  method  and  more  flexibility,  but  the 
effect  was  to  open  the  door  for  a  vast  amount  of  public 
assistance  rendered  indiscriminately  and  over  the  heads  of 
the  proper  administrators,  the  overseers.  A  third  act, 
that  of  1723,  allowing  parishes  to  cooperate  in  the  building 
of  houses  for  the  reception  of  the  indigent  and  ordering  that 
"no  poor  who  refused  to  be  lodged  and  kept  in  such  houses 
should  be  entitled  to  ask  or  receive  parochial  relief,"  was 
more  wholesome.  The  purport  of  this  "workhouse  test" 
was  to  restrict  the  operation  of  the  act  of  1601  to  "indoor 
relief,"  and  by  it  both  the  number  of  applicants  and  the 
existing  parish  rates  were  for  a  time  reduced. 

In  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  problem 
of  the  poor  assumed  greatly  increased  seriousness.  By 
reason  chiefly  of  augmented  taxation  and  the  growing  dis- 
proportion between  wages  and  prices,  the  number  of  appli- 
cants for  relief  tended  steadily  after  1750  to  rise.  The  result 
was  a  corresponding  rise  in  the  poor  rates.  During  the  last 
quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  yearly  aggregate  of 
rates  varied  between  £600,000  and  £900,000.  At  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  not  in  excess  of  £700,000. 
By  1776,  however,  it  had  reached  £1,500,000;  by  1786, 
£2,000,000;  and  by  1800,  £4,000,000.  The  difficulties  of 
the  situation  were  vastly  increased  by  the  operation  of  the 
Settlement  Law.  Men  who  might  readily  have  been  enabled 
by  removal  from  one  parish  to  another  to  make  a  living 
were  restrained  and  kept  in  a  state  of  dependence,  while 
vagrants,  invalids,   widows,   and  luckless  people  generally 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  POOR  231 

were  carted  and  whipped  and  driven  backward  and  forward 
from  one  thrifty  parish  to  another.  By  common  consent, 
the  condition  was  one  which  called  for  remedial  action. 
Unfortunately,  the  course  which  was  adopted  was  the  most 
unwise  that  could  well  have  been  hit  upon.  The  principle 
of  it  was  that  of  granting  relief,  or  "allowances,"  to  supple- 
ment wages.  By  a  measure  commonly  known  as  Gilbert's 
Act,  passed  in  1782,  the  admission  of  able-bodied  poor  to 
workhouses  was  forbidden,  and  the  rule  was  laid  down 
that  for  all  such  persons  employment  should  be  found  or 
created  in  the  vicinity  of  their  own  homes,  the  wages  received 
to  be  supplemented,  if  necessary,  by  assistance  from  the 
rates  at  the  discretion  of  the  overseers  or  justices.  But  this 
was  not  all.  In  1795  the  justices  of  Berkshire,  assembled 
in  Quarter  Sessions  at  Speenhamland,  declared  that  the  poor 
were  in  need  of  more  assistance  than  had  been  extended  and 
made  it  known  that  since  farmers  and  other  employers 
persistently  refused  to  increase  the  pay  of  their  laborers, 
they  (the  justices)  would  thereafter  grant  an  allowance  in 
aid  of  wages  to  all  "poor  and  industrious  men  and  their 
families."  To  every  household  was  to  be  allowed  from  time 
to  time  such  sums  as  might  be  necessary  to  raise  the  family 
income  to  a  minimum,  varying  with  the  price  of  bread.  The 
policy  thus  announced  was  carried  into  effect  and  was  imi- 
tated with  alacrity  throughout  the  country,  the  more  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  the  break-up  of  the  domestic  system 
of  manufacturing  was  at  this  time  fast  depriving  the  rural 
householder  of  those  by-industries  whereby  he  and  his  family 
had  been  accustomed  in  part  to  support  themselves. 

The  evil  effects  of  the  new  practices  can  hardly  be  exagger- 
ated. Hitherto  public  relief,  in  theory  at  least,  had  been 
confined  to  the  exceptionally  unfortunate,  and  to  be  in  receipt 
of  relief  marked  off  the  individual  sharply  from  his  fellows. 
Between  1722  and  1782,  it  had  meant  almost  inevitably 
the  workhouse.     Now,   however,  the   workhouse   test   was 


232    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

given  up ;  all  idea  of  deterring  the  indigent  from  pauperism 
was  abandoned ;  the  rates  were  to  become  a  normal  part  of 
the  industrial  system;  the  pauper  was  to  be  made  as  com- 
fortable as  the  industrious.  Thriftlessness  and  extravagance 
were  directly  encouraged.  Allowances  being  given  to  supple- 
ment wages,  he  who  was  lazy  and  earned  least  was  entitled 
to  receive  most.  If  he  married  improvidently  and  had  a 
large  family,  he  was  not  burdened  thereby,  because  for 
every  child  there  was  made  an  extra  allowance.  The  pauper 
became,  indeed,  among  the  poor  the  only  man  who  could 
marry  and  bring  up  children  in  comfort.  On  the  other 
hand,  industriousness  was  penalized.  If  a  man,  by  hard 
work,  prudence,  and  economy  contrived  to  sustain  himself 
independently,  he  but  had  the  mortification  of  beholding 
his  idle  neighbor  as  well  off  as  himself  and  the  chagrin  of 
being  compelled  to  contribute  to  the  rates  by  which  this 
idle  neighbor  was  supported.  The  upshot  was  the  wide- 
spread pauperization  of  English  labor,  and  especially  of  the 
rural  working  population.  The  ordinary  man  ceased  to 
try  to  support  himself  and  his  family  without  resort  to 
charity;  and,  charity  being  ever  at  hand  equally  for  all, 
he  would  have  been  something  more  than  human  if  he  had 
not  grown  indifferent  to  work.  The  tendency  was  for  the 
parish  more  and  more  to  assume  the  disposal  of  the  labor  of 
its  working  people,  to  the  end  that  it  might  gain  compensa- 
tion in  such  measure  as  was  possible  for  the  enormous  fiscal 
burden  that  was  imposed  upon  it.  A  notorious  aspect  of 
this  practice,  to  which  allusion  is  made  elsewhere,  was  the 
apprenticing  of  parish  children  to  the  mill  operators  of  the 
northern  industrial  centres.  Wages  steadily  declined,  be- 
cause when  the  principle  of  the  universal  supplementing  of 
wages  from  the  rates  was  once  admitted,  employers  somewhat 
naturally  felt  relieved  from  obligation  to  pay  their  workmen 
properly,  and  thus  was  increased  the  burden  which  fell  upon 
the  taxpayers  of  the  nation  at  large. 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  POOR  233 

It  was,  indeed,  the  costliness  of  the  system  that  has  been 
described  that,  more  immediately  than  any  other  considera- 
tion, prompted  a  change  of  policy.  Rates  rose  until  they 
threatened  completely  to  absorb  the  rents  of  the  landlords. 
Even  by  1802-03  it  was  calculated  that  28  per  cent  of  the 
population  of  the  country  were  in  receipt  of  permanent  or 
occasional  relief,  and  the  aggregate  outlay  had  reached 
£4,267,965,  which  was  more  than  double  the  average  figure 
when  the  Gilbert  Act  was  passed  only  a  score  of  years  earlier. 
In  181 7  the  outlay  attained  its  maximum  in  the  sum  of 
£7,870,801.  In  that  year  a  committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  proposed  a  number  of  desirable  modifications, 
and  in  1819  a  statute  relating  to  the  subject  was  passed. 
This  measure,  however,  was  essentially  colorless,  and  years 
elapsed  before  the  issue  was  brought  to  the  point  of  decisive 
action. 

In  1832  a  public  commission  was  appointed  to  "make  dili- 
gent and  full  inquiry  into  the  practical  operation  of  the  laws 
for  the  relief  of  the  poor  in  England  and  Wales,  and  into  the 
manner  in  which  those  laws  are  administered,  and  to  report 
their  opinion  as  to  what  beneficial  alterations  can  be  made." 
The  commission  was  composed  of  nine  able  men  represent- 
ing a  considerable  variety  of  interests.  In  February,  1834, 
after  two  years  of  incessant  labor,  it  presented  a  report 
which  comprises  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most  illuminating 
and  one  of  the  most  startling  documents  of  its  kind  in  exist- 
ence. Not  only  were  the  iniquities  of  the  existing  order 
mercilessly  laid  bare ;  a  constructive  legislative  programme 
of  reform  was  proposed  and  convincingly  defended.  The 
great  source  of  abuse  was  found  in  "the  outdoor  relief  ex- 
tended to  the  able-bodied,  on  the  beneficiaries'  own  account 
and  on  that  on  their  families,  whether  given  in  kind  or  in 
money."  Under  the  operation  of  the  existing  system,  it 
was  shown,  "idleness,  improvidence,  or  extravagance  occa- 
sion no  loss,  and  consequently  diligence  and  economy  can 


234    SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

afford  no  gain.  ...  In  many  places  the  income  derived 
from  the  parish  for  easy  or  nominal  work  actually  exceeds 
that  of  the  independent  laborer ;  and  even  in  those  cases 
in  which  the  money  relief  only  equals,  or  nearly  approaches, 
the  average  rate  of  wages,  it  is  often  better  worth  having,  as 
the  pauper  requires  less  expensive  diet  and  clothing  than  the 
hard-working  man.  In  such  places  a  man  who  does  not 
possess  either  some  property,  or  an  amount  of  skill  which 
will  insure  to  him  more  than  the  average  rate  of  wages,  is  of 
course  a  loser  by  preserving  his  independence.  ...  But 
though  the  injustice  perpetrated  on  the  man  who  struggles 
as  far  as  he  can  struggle  against  the  oppression  of  the  system 
is  at  first  sight  the  most  revolting,  the  severest  sufferers  are 
those  that  have  become  callous  to  their  own  degradation, 
who  value  parish  support  as  their  privilege,  and  demand  it 
as  their  right,  and  complain  only  that  it  is  limited  in  amount, 
or  that  some  sort  of  labor  confinement  is  exacted  in  return."  l 
The  alterations  which  the  commission  proposed  were  in- 
corporated largely  in  the  Poor  Law  Amendment  Act  passed 
by  Parliament  before  the  close  of  1834.  By  this  measure, 
known  commonly  as  the  New  Poor  Law,  new  and  centralizing 
machinery  for  the  administration  of  public  charity  was 
created,  and  certain  fundamental  changes  were  introduced 
in  the  methods  and  means  by  which  relief  should  be  accorded. 
In  the  matter  of  administration  the  need  of  unification  was 
very  great.  In  1832  the  public  funds  arising  from  the  rates 
were  administered  by  more  than  2000  justices  of  the  peace, 
15,000  bodies  of  overseers,  and  15,000  parish  vestries,  acting 
always  independently  and  very  commonly  in  opposition. 
The  act  of  1834  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  central 
board  of  three  commissioners  and  the  division  of  England 
and  Wales  into  21  districts,  each  in  charge  of  an  assistant 
commissioner.  These  and  other  officials  whose  appointment 
was  provided  for  were  authorized  to  direct  and  control  the 

1  Report  on  the  Poor  Laws,  77-87. 


THE    CARE   OF  THE   POOR  235 

administration  of  public  relief  in  all  of  its  phases.  Under 
their  supervision  "poor-law  unions"  were  to  be  formed  by  the 
uniting  of  parishes  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  work- 
houses and  electing  boards  of  "guardians"  of  the  poor;  and 
regulations  were  laid  down  covering  the  apportionment  of 
expenses  among  the  affiliated  parishes.  The  seventeenth 
century  Law  of  Settlement  was  so  amended  as  to  be  in  effect 
rescinded,  and  the  duty  hitherto  laid  upon  the  parish  to  find 
work  for  the  unemployed  and  to  make  allowances  in  aid  of 
inadequate  wages  was  wholly  abrogated.  The  most  strik- 
ing provision  of  the  law,  indeed,  was  that  by  which  outdoor 
relief  for  the  able-bodied  was  altogether  abolished.  No 
person  physically  able  to  labor  was  hereafter  to  be  entitled 
to  public  relief  in  his  own  home.  Only  to  persons  wholly 
unable  to  work,  whether  from  old  age  or  invalidity,  might 
outdoor  relief  be  extended,  and  in  these  cases  only  with  the 
assent  of  two  justices.  On  the  side  of  administration,  the 
intent  and  effect  of  the  act  was  to  restore  the  Elizabethan 
principles  of  relief  by  assigning  the  immediate  care  of  the 
poor  to  responsible  persons  chosen  by  the  ratepayers,  and 
themselves  controlled  by  the  instructions  of  a  central  body. 
The  policy  of  indoor  relief,  too,  represented  a  restoration  of 
more  ancient  practice,  particularly  that  of  the  middle  portion 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  1838  the  New  Poor  Law  was 
extended  to  Ireland,  where,  indeed,  there  had  previously 
been  no  poor  law  at  all;  and  in  1845  it  was  introduced  in 
Scotland. 

With  relatively  unimportant  amendments,  save  in  the 
matter  of  administration,  the  Poor  Law  of  1834  is  still  in 
operation  throughout  the  United  Kingdom.  Its  beneficent 
effects  were  manifest  almost  immediately  upon  its  enactment. 
Rates  declined  at  once  by  one-fourth,  and  in  proportion  to 
population  they  have  never  again  approached  the  figures  of 
1834.  The  percentage  of  paupers  in  the  total  population  has 
fallen  from  7.5  to  less  than  half  that  number,  and  English 


236    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

labor  has  been  largely  redeemed  from  the  demoralization 
brought  upon  it  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago  by  well-meant 
but  extremely  ill-advised  legislation.  At  the  same  time,  the 
new  system  has  not  at  any  stage  of  its  history  entirely  es- 
caped criticism.  In  1839  feeling  against  the  Poor  Law  Com- 
missioners ran  so  high  that  Parliament  seemed  on  the  point 
of  dissolving  the  board.  Better  judgment  prevailed,  but  in 
1847,  and  again  in  1871,  important  changes  were  introduced 
in  respect  to  the  central  agencies  of  administration.  In  1847 
the  Poor  Law  Commission  as  such  was  dissolved,  and  there 
was  organized  a  new  body  of  commissioners  whose  head,  the 
President  of  the  Poor  Law  Board,  was  made  a  minister 
responsible,  like  other  ministers,  to  Parliament.  In  1871,  in 
consequence  of  the  feeling  that  the  administration  of  poor 
relief  had  come  to  be  a  fairly  simple  matter,  the  Poor  Law 
Board  was  given  enlarged  functions  in  relation  to  public 
health,  primary  education,  and  other  aspects  of  local  affairs, 
and  to  the  reconstituted  body  was  given  the  name  which  it 
bears  to-day,  i.e.,  the  Local  Government  Board.  The  last- 
mentioned  change  somewhat  obscured,  though  it  cannot  be 
said  greatly  to  have  impaired,  poor  relief  administration. 
The  most  questionable  aspect  of  the  policy  of  the  Local 
Government  Board  has  been  the  revival  in  a  limited  measure 
of  outdoor  relief  for  the  able-bodied.  The  pressure  of  the 
poor  to  be  relieved  without  the  necessity  of  removal  to  a 
workhouse  is  very  great,  and  it  is  almost  inevitable  that  some 
departure  from  the  letter  of  the  law  will  be  made. 

Despite  the  fact  that  by  1908  the  aggregate  number  of 
permanent  paupers  in  England  and  Wales  was  but  826,345  — 
23.4  per  1000  of  population  as  compared  with  a  ratio  of  41.8 
per  1000  as  recently  as  1859  —  it  has  been  felt  by  many 
persons  of  authority  that  the  rapidity  of  industrial  change, 
especially  the  steady  increase  of  unemployment,  renders  ad- 
visable a  recasting  of  the  prevailing  poor  relief  system.  In 
December  of  the  year  mentioned  a  public  commission  of 


THE   CARE  OF  THE   POOR  237 

eighteen  members  was  created  to  inquire  into  the  operation 
of  the  existing  law  and  into  the  various  means  adopted  out- 
side of  the  poor  law  to  meet  distress  arising  from  unemploy- 
ment, particularly  in  times  of  industrial  depression.  The 
commission  gathered  an  enormous  amount  of  evidence,  the 
larger  part  of  which  has  been  published  in  a  series  of  thirty- 
four  volumes,  and  in  1909  submitted  two  elaborate  reports. 
The  report  of  the  majority,  comprising  the  chairman  (Lord 
George  Hamilton)  and  thirteen  other  members,  reviewed  at 
length  the  history  of  English  poor-relief  legislation,  pointed 
out  a  number  of  defects  in  the  present  system,  and  offered 
a  scheme  of  reform  which  comprises,  not  a  breaking-up  of  the 
prevailing  regime,  but  a  modification  of  it  in  a  number  of 
more  or  less  important  particulars.  The  report  of  the  minor- 
ity of  the  commission  recommended  changes  so  drastic  that 
their  adoption  would  be  equivalent  virtually  to  the  enact- 
ment of  a  new  law.  Both  majority  and  minority  favored  the 
abolition  of  the  general  workhouses  in  which  able-bodied 
paupers  are  now  gathered,  though  as  to  what  should  be  sub- 
stituted there  was  lack  of  agreement.  The  majority  urged 
the  giving  of  indoor  relief  in  separate  institutions  appro- 
priate to  children,  vagrants,  the  aged,  and  four  other  distinc- 
tive classes  of  beneficiaries.  Majority  and  minority  likewise 
agreed  upon  the  abolition  of  the  "parish  union"  area  and  the 
substitution  for  it  of  a  larger  administrative  district.  At 
present  the  cases,  character,  and  amount  of  relief  within  the 
parish  union,  as  well  as  adjustments  of  rates,  are  determined 
by  a  board  of  guardians  elected  by  the  ratepayers,  and  the 
law  is  such  that  to  these  guardians  is  left  a  wide  range  of 
discretion.  The  two  reports  agree  in  recommending  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  existing  boards,  and  the  majority  advocates  a 
division  of  the  functions  of  these  agencies  between  two  sets 
of  officials,  one  possessing  authority  throughout  a  county 
or  county  borough,  the  other  to  be  a  subordinate  committee 
within  an  area  corresponding  to  the  present  parish  union. 


238    SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

Both  reports  urged  the  substitution  for  the  term  "poor  law" 
of  the  milder  phrase  " public  assistance."  The  two  documents 
have  elicited  widespread  discussion,  but  no  action  thus  far 
has  been  taken  to  comply  with  the  recommendations  con- 
tained in  either  of  them. 

In  Germany  relief  of  the  poor  has  been  made  one  of  the 
principal  functions  of  the  local  governing  agencies.  Under 
a  law  of  the  North  German  Confederation,  passed  June  6, 
1870,  incorporated  in  the  Imperial  Constitution  in  187 1,  and 
revised  March  12,  1894,  public  relief  of  the  poor  is  entrusted 
to  local  and  district  unions,  the  former  comprising  usually 
a  parish  or  manor,  the  latter  a  circle,  a  province,  or  even  one 
of  the  federated  states.  The  general  principles  of  poor 
relief  are  regulated  by  Imperial  Law  for  the  Empire  as  a 
whole,  but  in  the  application  of  these  principles  a  certain  lati- 
tude is  left  to  the  states  and  to  the  local  authorities.  In 
addition  to  prescribing  that  poor  relief  shall  be  administered 
through  local  and  district  unions,  the  Imperial  law  requires 
that  in  relation  to  the  mode  and  measure  of  relief  to  be  granted 
or  withheld,  every  German  in  every  state  of  the  Empire  shall 
be  regarded  as  a  native.  The  local  union  may  consist  of  one 
parish  or  commune,  or  of  several  combined.  Its  authorities 
are  bound  to  extend  relief  to  needy  persons  resident  at  any 
time  within  its  bounds,  although  if  an  individual  given  assist- 
ance has  his  domicile  in  another  union,  the  costs  may  be 
reclaimed  from  that  union,  and  the  assisted  person  may  be 
transported  thither.  As  to  when  a  person  is  to  be  adjudged 
in  need,  the  Settlement  Court  of  the  Empire  has  ruled  that 
an  able-bodied  man  is  "temporarily  in  need  of  help  if  without 
work  and  without  property  that  he  can  dispose  of  in  order 
to  satisfy  urgently  necessary  wants  of  life,  as.  for  example, 
food  and  shelter."  Relief  may  be  claimed,  too,  by  persons 
possessed  of  property  but  unable  to  convert  it  at  once  into 
the  means  of  livelihood.  By  the  local  unions  are  maintained 
poorhouses  in  which  are  given  indoor   (geschlossen)   relief, 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  POOR  239 

besides  special  institutions  for  orphans,  lunatics,  and  other 
helpless  persons  whose  residence  in  the  ordinary  poorhouses 
is  undesirable.  The  law  of  Prussia  prescribes  that  every 
destitute  German  resident  within  the  state  shall  have  a  claim 
upon  the  poor-law  union  for  shelter,  necessary  subsistence, 
requisite  treatment  and  care  in  event  of  sickness,  and  seemly 
burial  in  case  of  death.  The  relief  may  be  provided  in  poor- 
houses  (Armenhauser)  or  in  hospitals  {Krankenhauser) ,  and 
it  may  be  given  only  in  return  for  labor.  The  district  union 
is  a  much  larger  area  than  the  local,  but  is  of  only  secondary 
importance.  Its  principal  function  is  the  provision  of  relief 
for  vagrants  and  other  paupers  who,  possessing  no  legal  domi- 
cile, have  no  right  to  assistance  at  the  hands  of  a  local  union. 
Within  the  unions  of  both  types  the  requisite  funds  are 
raised  by  voluntary  contributions,  by  special  appropriations, 
and  occasionally,  though  not  regularly,  by  the  levy  of  poor- 
rates  as  such.  Service  upon  the  local  poor-law  boards  is 
obligatory  and  unpaid.  "Every  parishioner,"  says  the 
Supplementary  Poor  Law  of  Prussia,  "entitled  to  take  part 
in  the  parochial  elections  is  liable  to  discharge  unpaid  duties 
in  the  poor-law  administration  of  the  parish  during  a  period 
of  three  years,  or  longer,  as  may  be  provided  by  the  statutes 
of  the  parish."  Save  by  reason  of  age,  frequent  absence, 
permanent  illness,  or  the  tenure  of  public  office,  no  citizen 
may  escape  this  liability  without  special  consent  of  the 
parochial  authorities.  Service  of  the  kind  is  a  serious  public 
duty,  and  it  is  of  a  higher  order  than  is  obtained  in  any  other 
country.  In  many  of  the  larger  towns  there  is  in  satisfactory 
operation  a  modification  of  the  poor-relief  system  which  was 
first  devised  in  the  Rhenish  Prussian  town  of  Elberfeld  a  hun- 
dred years  ago,  and  is  known,  accordingly,  as  the  "Elberfeld 
system."  Under  it  very  sharp  distinction  is  drawn  between 
the  destitute  incapacitated  and  the  destitute  able-bodied. 
For  the  former  it  provides  relief  unconditionally;  for  the 
latter,  relief  only  in  return  for  such  work  as  may  be  assigned. 


240    SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

It  seeks  distinctly  to  be  disciplinary  and  educational  as  well 
as  charitable,  and  upon  the  poor-law  officials  is  imposed  spe- 
cific obligation  to  investigate  the  conditions  and  causes  of 
poverty  and  to  inaugurate  or  recommend  preventive  and 
remedial  measures.  It  involves,  also,  a  free  interworking  of 
public  with  private  charitable  enterprise.  Throughout  the 
Empire  as  a  whole  the  problem  of  poor-relief  is  less  insistent 
than  once  it  was,  or  than  it  is  in  many  other  European  coun- 
tries, the  principal  reason  being  that  the  thoroughgoing 
scheme  of  workingmen's  insurance  to-day  in  operation  has 
reduced  the  volume  of  pauperism  to  unusually  small  dimen- 


sions. 


In  France  there  is  no  poor-rate,  and  the  pauper  as  such  has 
no  legal  claim  to  public  support.  Ample  provision  is  made, 
however,  by  law  for  the  care  of  destitute  children,  pauper 
lunatics,  and  aged  and  infirm  men  and  women  devoid  of 
resources  and  victims  of  incurable  maladies.  The  necessary 
funds  are  contributed  in  part  by  the  state,  in  part  by  the 
departments,  and  in  part  by  the  communes,  and  are  raised 
from  the  product  of  certain  fines,  the  income  from  endow- 
ments, surtaxes  on  fees  of  admission  to  places  of  public 
amusement,  and  a  wide  variety  of  other  sources.  Public 
benevolent  institutions  are  of  four  principal  types:  (i)  the 
hopital,  for  cases  of  curable  illness;  (2)  the  hospice,  where 
the  aged  poor,  cases  of  incurable  malady,  orphans,  foundlings, 
and  in  some  cases  lunatics,  are  received;  (3)  the  bureau  de 
bien-faisance,  charged  with  the  extension  of  outdoor  relief, 
in  money  or  in  kind,  to  the  aged  poor,  or  to  those  who,  though 
ordinarily  capable  of  working,  are  prevented  from  doing  so 
by  illness  or  strikes;  and  (4)  the  bureau  oV assistance,  which 
dispenses  free  medical  treatment  to  the  destitute.  The  last- 
mentioned  institution  exists  in  every  commune ;  maintenance 
of  the  other  three  is  optional  but  almost  universal.  All  are 
supervised  by  a  branch  of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior. 
1  See  chapter  XVII. 


THE   CARE  OF  THE  POOR  24 1 

It  is  impossible  to  make  mention  here  of  the  widely  varied 
agencies  through  which  other  European  states  minister  to 
their  dependent  classes.  Several  of  these  states  —  notably 
Switzerland,  Holland,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Sweden,  and 
Norway  —  maintain  poor-relief  systems  which  are,  on  the 
whole,  as  humane  and  as  wisely  managed  as  any  in  the  world. 
In  Italy,  Austria-Hungary,  Spain,  and  eastern  Europe  satis- 
factory poor-relief  arrangements  have  never  been  devised 
or  carried  into  operation ;  yet  even  in  these  countries  the 
progress  that  has  been  realized  since  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  is  considerable. 

One  fact  that  should  not  be  overlooked  is  that  in  virtually 
all  countries  of  western  Europe  there  have  been  set  on  foot 
within  the  past  half-century  a  variety  of  activities  whose 
object  is  the  amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the  self-supporting 
poor.  More  and  more  it  is  coming  to  be  recognized  by  phi- 
lanthropists and  legislators  that  the  best  means  of  dealing 
with  poverty  is  the  removal,  in  so  far  as  is  possible,  of  the 
disadvantages  in  respect  to  health,  comfort,  and  social  status 
ordinarily  inherent  in  it.  Poverty  cannot  be  legislated  out 
of  existence  or  otherwise  ejected  from  the  social  order,  but 
it  is  possible  to  alleviate  it  both  by  private  charity  and  by 
public  regulative  legislation.  One  means  of  public  ameliora- 
tion which  has  been  brought  extensively  to  bear  is  that  of 
free  and  compulsory  education.  Another  is  the  development, 
especially  since  the  second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
of  the  science  of  public  sanitation.  A  third  is  the  establish- 
ment of  savings-banks  and  of  other  agencies  by  which  thrift 
is  encouraged  and  the  wage-earner  is  enabled  to  make  pro- 
vision for  a  "rainy  day."  A  fourth,  concerning  which  a  word 
may  be  said  here,  is  the  improvement  of  conditions  in  respect 
to  housing  and  the  extension  of  opportunity  for  the  acquire- 
ment of  rural  homes. 

In  no  European  state  has  the  housing  problem  assumed 
greater  seriousness  than  in  the  United  Kingdom.     Not  only 

R 


242    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

in  the  cities,  but  in  the  smaller  towns  and  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, housing  facilities  have  long  been,  in  Ireland  and  in 
Scotland,  as  well  as  in  England,  shockingly  inadequate.  The 
fundamental  cause  is  the  wholesale  cityward  movement  of 
population  which  set  in  with  the  revolution  in  agriculture 
and  industry  a  century  ago,  and  which  to  this  day  has  con- 
tinued all  but  unabated.  In  the  newly  risen  industrial  cen- 
tres the  laboring  masses  came  to  be,  and  in  a  measure  still 
are,  crowded  in  hastily  built  tenements  in  congested  dis- 
tricts adjacent  to  the  mills,  where  disease,  physical  degenera- 
tion, crime,  pauperism,  and  high  death-rates  early  reached 
alarming  proportions.  In  the  country,  at  the  same  time,  the 
disappearance  of  the  yeomanry,  the  poverty  of  the  agricul- 
tural laborers,  and  the  niggardliness  of  the  landlords  very 
generally  cooperated  to  prevent  the  replacing  of  dilapidated 
and  unsanitary  cottages  by  desirable  habitations.  Recogni- 
tion of  the  evils  arising  from  inadequate  housing  and  agita- 
tion in  behalf  of  improved  conditions  can  be  traced  to  a  period 
somewhat  antedating  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
As  early  as  1841,  under  the  leadership  especially  of  Lord 
Shaftesbury,  there  began  to  be  organized  in  England  societies 
having  as  their  object  the  improvement  of  working-class 
housing.  One  of  these  was  the  Metropolitan  Association 
for  Improving  the  Dwellings  of  the  Industrial  Classes,  in- 
corporated in  1845.  Another  of  the  same  period,  the  Soci- 
ety for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Working  Classes,  had 
as  its  president  the  Prince  Consort.  At  the  middle  of  the 
century  agitation  began  to  bear  fruit  in  legislation.  Begin- 
ning in  1857,  there  were  passed  by  Parliament,  prior  to  the 
Housing  of  the  Working  Classes  Act  of  1903,  a  score  and  a 
half  of  more  or  less  important  measures  pertaining  to  housing 
and  public  health,  besides  a  variety  of  special  measures  of 
the  sort  applicable  only  to  Ireland  or  Scotland. 

The  laws  upon  the  subject  at  present  in  effect  in  Great 
Britain  are  the  Public  Health  Acts  of  1875  and  1891  (some- 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  POOR  243 

what  amended),  the  Housing  of  the  Working  Classes  Act  of 
1890,  amended  by  measures  of  1894,  1900,  and  1903,  and  the 
Housing  and  Town  Planning  Act  of  1909.  The  Public  Health 
Acts  in  general  place  upon  the  local  authorities  the  obliga- 
tion to  provide,  under  appropriate  local  regulations,  the  proper 
construction,  cleaning,  and  drainage  of  streets,  an  adequate 
water-supply,  and  the  inspection  of  houses  and  other  build- 
ings. The  Housing  Acts  go  further  and  authorize  the  authori- 
ties to  demolish  unsanitary  buildings,  to  clear  "slums,"  to 
undertake  the  construction  of  habitations  for  the  working 
classes,  and  to  encourage  private  enterprise  in  these  same 
general  directions.  The  administration  of  these  measures, 
being  entrusted  to  local  agencies,  varies  considerably  from 
place  to  place  and  from  time  to  time,  but  there  can  be  no 
question  that  since  the  existing  laws  have  been  in  operation, 
housing  conditions  have  been  materially  improved.  Two 
facts  in  evidence  may  be  cited.  Taking  as  a  standard  of 
overcrowding  an  average  of  more  than  two  persons  per  room, 
the  proportion  of  the  overcrowded  in  England  and  Wales  in 
1891  was  11.23  Per  cent,  while  in  1901  it  was  but  8.2  per  cent. 
During  the  period  1871-75  the  annual  death-rate  in  the 
United  Kingdom  was  21.3  per  1000;  in  1903-07  it  was  but 
15.7.  This  last-mentioned  change  is  not  to  be  explained  solely, 
of  course,  by  the  improvement  of  housing  conditions,  but 
it  is  doubtful  whether  any  other  single  factor  played  so  im- 
portant a  part. 

Vitally  connected  with  the  housing  movement  is  the  effort 
which  has  begun  to  be  made  to  draw  people  away  from  the 
congested  city  districts  and  to  settle  them  in  suburbs  or  in 
smaller  towns  and  villages.  The  improvement  of  transit 
facilities  has  contributed  somewhat  to  this  end,  but  it  is 
recognized  that  considerable  results  must  be  dependent  upon 
specially  directed  effort,  private  and  public.  To  facilitate 
the  acquisition  of  land  by  the  present  landless  there  was 
passed  in  1907  a  new  Small  Holdings  and  Allotment  Act  by 


244    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

whose  terms  county  and  borough  councils,  with  the  coopera* 
tion  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  are  authorized  to  acquire 
land  and  to  allot  it  to  those  who  may  desire  it  in  quantities 
of  from  one  acre  to  fifty  acres.  The  measure  of  success  with 
which  this  policy,  borrowed  substantially  from  Denmark, 
can  be  made  to  operate  cannot  as  yet  be  predicted.  But 
results  already  attained  are  distinctly  encouraging. 

A  very  interesting  phase  of  the  "back  to  the  country" 
movement  in  Great  Britain  is  the  spread  of  the  Garden  City 
idea.  The  Garden  City  scheme  comprises,  in  brief,  the  organ- 
ization in  the  country  of  industrial  communities  in  which 
model  factories  can  be  established  and  where  the  workers 
and  other  residents  can  occupy  inexpensive  but  attractive, 
hygienic,  and  comfortable  homes,  each  with  its  little  garden, 
and  all  to  be  surrounded  by  a  belt  of  arable  land,  to  the  end 
that  the  advantages  of  city  and  of  country  may  be  effectually 
combined.  In  1899  a  Garden  City  Association  was  formed 
in  London,  and  four  years  later  a  Garden  City  corporation 
acquired  a  tract  of  3800  acres  at  Letchworth,  thirty-four 
miles  north  of  London,  and  established  there  the  first  indus- 
trial centre  of  the  projected  type.  The  experiment  has  been 
very  successful,  and  the  consequence  has  been  not  merely 
the  rapid  conversion  of  England  to  the  practicability  of  the 
idea,  but  the  springing  up  of  active  Garden  City  associations 
in  Germany,  France,  Holland,  Belgium,  and  the  United 
States. 

All  European  countries,  of  course,  have  their  problems  of 
housing  and  of  urban  congestion.  In  Belgium  there  has  been 
important  housing  legislation  since  1889,  in  France  since 
1894,  in  Holland  since  1901,  in  Austria  since  1902,  and  in 
Italy  since  1903.  In  Germany,  where  by  reason  of  the  rapid 
increase  of  population,  the  growth  of  manufactures,  and  the 
urbanization  of  the  people,  the  housing  question  is  especially 
acute,  there  has  been  no  uniform  legislation  for  the  Empire; 
but  the  various  states  have  elaborate  schemes  of  health  and 


THE   CARE   OF  THE   POOR  245 

housing  regulations.  That  the  problem  is  one  of  universal 
interest  and  importance  was  emphasized  by  the  holding  at 
London,  in  1907,  of  an  International  Housing  Congress  at 
which  representatives  of  numerous  countries  brought  to- 
gether a  mass  of  valuable  data  relating  to  it. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

GERMANY  AND  THE  COMMON  MAN 

When  crops  were  poor,  prices  high,  taxes  heavy,  bureau- 
cracy intolerable,  Hans  the  elder  was  at  little  loss  as  to  what 
to  do.  He  corresponded  with  his  cousin  Heinrich  in  Illinois 
or  his  erstwhile  neighbor  Karl  in  Sao  Paolo,  bought  a  ticket 
for  Hamburg  or  Bremen,  and  took  passage  for  America. 
The  chances  were  that  the  Fatherland  would  know  him  no 
more.  When,  however,  Hans  the  younger  falls  into  discon- 
tent and  rebels  against  his  environment,  the  probability  is 
that,  instead  of  fixing  his  hopes  upon  America  or  any  other 
distant  quarter  of  the  globe,  he  will  dispose  of  his  little  farm 
and,  surrendering  to  the  drift  of  the  day,  set  out  upon  the 
beaten  road  to  Berlin,  Chemnitz,  Essen,  or  any  one  of  the 
scores  of  other  great  centres  where  work  and  wages  are  to  be 
had  within  the  Empire.  For  the  Hans  of  to-day  is  reasonably 
certain,  as  the  Hans  of  yesterday  was  not,  that  he  can  materi- 
ally better  his  condition  and  enhance  the  opportunities  of 
his  family  without  resorting  to  the  extreme  of  expatriation. 
He  scorns  the  colonies,  and  he  is  not  attracted  by  the  United 
States,  Brazil,  the  Argentine  Republic,  South  Africa,  or  any 
of  the  outlying  fields  of  opportunity  which  appeal  ordinarily 
to  the  workless  and  luckless  European.  His  labor,  his  taxes, 
his  military  service,  his  children,  are  saved  to  the  Empire, 
in  part  because  of  the  remarkable  growth  in  recent  years  of 
German  industrial  opportunity,  but  also  in  part  by  reason 
of  the  equally  remarkable  set  of  ameliorating  and  conserving 
instrumentalities  which  Germany  has  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  conditions  surrounding  her  working  classes.  It  thus 
arises  that,  although  the  population  of  the  Empire  increased 

246 


GERMANY   AND   THE   COMMON  MAN  247 

between  1882  and  1910  from  45,200,000  to  64,896,881,  the 
volume  of  annual  emigration,  once  exceeding  300,000,  falls 
to-day  under  50,000;  and  although  during  the  period  men- 
tioned the  absolute  number  of  persons  who  drew  their  living 
from  agriculture  was  but  slightly  reduced,  the  proportion 
of  those  who  did  so  fell  from  42.5  to  28.6  per  cent.  Germany's 
vast  surplusage  of  population  is  finding  profitable  employ- 
ment to-day  in  the  factories,  workshops,  mines,  and  commer- 
cial establishments  of  the  Empire. 

We  in  the  United  States  have  lately  been  passing  through 
a  notable  awakening  respecting  the  importance  of  the  con- 
servation of  our  physical  resources.  Under  conditions  that 
have  existed  with  us  it  is  perhaps  inevitable  that  an  arous- 
ing to  the  inestimable  value  of  our  forests,  our  water-power, 
and  our  unoccupied  lands  should  have  been  belated.  Until 
within  recent  years  the  available  supply  seemed  so  inex- 
haustible that  economy  appeared  hardly  worth  while.  In 
Germany,  however,  the  conservation  of  resources  —  of  forests, 
of  mines,  of  waterways,  of  farm-lands  —  has  long  been  a 
fundamental  canon  in  the  national  creed.  And  not  only  that. 
Throughout  upwards  of  a  generation  Germany  has  been 
working  more  systematically  than  any  other  nation  upon  the 
problem  of  what  a  recent  French  writer  has  denominated 
"the  higher  conservation"  —  the  conservation,  that  is,  of 
men,  women,  and  children,  and  of  their  capacities  to  add  by 
their  labor  or  their  ingenuity  to  the  stock  of  national  wealth. 
Speaking  in  the  Reichstag,  February  6,  1906,  Count  Posa- 
dowsky,  Imperial  Minister  of  the  Interior,  said:  "If  Ger- 
many has  just  experienced  a  vast  industrial  expansion  equalled 
by  no  other  country  in  the  world  during  the  same  time,  it  is 
chiefly  due  to  the  efficiency  of  its  workers.  But  this  effi- 
ciency must  inevitably  have  suffered  had  we  not  secured  to 
our  working  classes,  by  the  social  legislation  of  recent  years, 
a  tolerable  standard  of  life,  and  had  we  not,  so  far  as  was 
possible,  guaranteed  their  physical  health." 


248    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

In  Germany  there  is  no  such  fear  of  the  state  as  frequently 
asserts  itself  in  England  and  the  United  States.  The  doc- 
trines of  laissez-faire  and  individualism  find  few  adherents. 
In  the  conduct  of  government  there  is  avowedly  a  preponder- 
ating element  of  paternalism,  and  men  both  recognize  that 
the  splendid  Imperial  structure  of  the  present  day  owes  its 
existence  to  thoroughgoing  central  leadership  and  expect 
that  leadership  to  be  perpetuated.  It  is  believed  to  be  in 
no  small  measure  through  the  continuous  and  impartial 
application  of  the  regulating  and  directing  power  of  the  state 
that  the  several  classes  composing  the  Empire's  population 
have  been  brought  to  their  present  condition  of  prosperity 
and  efficiency.  The  landed  proprietor  is  protected  against 
American  wheat ;  the  manufacturer  is  shielded  from  the  com- 
petition of  foreign-made  goods ;  the  ship-owner  is  subsidized 
from  the  Imperial  treasury;  the  factory  workman  is  guar- 
anteed free  education  for  his  children,  public  assistance  in 
the  procuring  of  employment,  and  the  benefits  of  insurance 
against  illness,  accidents,  and  old-age.  The  watchwords 
all  along  the  line  are  conservation  and  efficiency,  and  no  na- 
tion has  as  yet  approached  Germany  in  the  realization  of 
these  twin  principles  of  public  welfare. 

At  the  basis  of  everything  lies  the  remarkable  German 
scheme  of  public  education.  Every  German  citizen  has  a 
right  to  a  common-school  education  at  the  public  cost.  And 
not  merely  has  he  a  right  to  it;  he  is  obligated  to  receive  it. 
School  attendance  is  compulsory  for  both  boys  and  girls 
between  the  ages  of  six  and  fourteen.  And  this  elementary 
education  means  more  than  instruction  in  the  rudiments  of 
academic  subjects.  It  involves  compulsory  physical  train- 
ing in  school  gymnasiums  and  swimming-tanks  and  on  school 
playgrounds,  and  also  frequent  excursions  for  purposes 
both  of  observation  and  of  exercise ;  and  these  diversions  are 
continued  in  vacation  periods,  under  the  direction  of  teachers 
and  at  the  public  expense.     Every  child  entering  the  schools 


GERMANY  AND  THE  COMMON  MAN  249 

is  examined  by  a  physician.  If  any  defect  is  discovered,  the 
parents  or  guardians  are  advised  of  it,  and  the  training  of 
the  child  is  so  adapted  that,  if  possible,  the  handicap  may  be 
overcome.  After  leaving  the  elementary  school  the  boy  or 
girl  must  spend  two  or  three  years  in  free  "continuation" 
schools,  in  which  the  subjects  of  study  are  largely  of  a  practi- 
cal nature ;  and  still  beyond  are  the  high  schools,  gymnasiums, 
commercial  colleges,  art  and  normal  schools,  and  other 
secondary  schools,  attendance  upon  which  is  optional  and 
not  always  entirely  free,  but  which  attract  very  great  num- 
bers of  pupils.  In  all  of  the  schools  in  which  attendance  is 
compulsory  books  are  furnished  free  to  those  who  are  unable 
to  purchase  them.  Breakfasts,  likewise,  are  provided,  and 
in  fact  the  feeding  at  public  cost  of  all  school  children  has 
been  widely  introduced.  The  ultimate  aim,  never  lost  to 
view,  is  that  the  boy  shall  be  made  a  good  soldier  and  a  self- 
supporting  and  useful  citizen,  and  that  the  girl  shall  become 
a  model  Haus-frau  and  mother.  The  first  requisite  of  na- 
tional power  is  recognized  to  be  sturdy,  intelligent,  thrifty 
men  and  women. 

In  German  eyes,  the  workingman,  skilled  or  unskilled,  is 
an  asset.  When  he  is  profitably  employed,  he  both  main- 
tains himself  and  those  dependent  upon  him  and  contributes 
positively  to  the  volume  of  national  industry  and  wealth. 
Conversely,  when  he  is  idle,  he  is  not  merely  not  a  contribu- 
tor; he  is  a  hindrance.  When  he  becomes  a  tramp,  his 
existence  becomes  a  social  drain.  When  he  is  maimed  or 
killed,  society  loses  by  so  much.  It  is  therefore  the  part  of 
thrift  to  see  to  it  that,  in  so  far  as  possible,  every  capable 
member  of  society  shall  have  something  worth  while  to  do, 
that  he  shall  be  educated  sufficiently  to  do  well  the  work 
that  falls  to  him,  and  that  in  the  doing  of  it  he  shall  be  ac- 
corded every  safeguard  and  favoring  circumstance  that  is 
practicable.  It  is  some  such  philosophy  as  this,  bluntly  stated, 
that  underlies  the  great  mechanism  by  which  Germany  to-day 


250    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

protects,  encourages,  and  conserves  her  working  classes. 
This  mechanism  is  in  part  educational,  in  part  governmental, 
in  part  economic.  It  comprises,  however,  certain  devices 
of  a  special  nature  by  which  the  lot  of  the  ordinary  man  is 
sought  to  be  surrounded  with  security,  and  of  these,  four  are 
of  principal  importance :  insurance  against  unemployment, 
insurance  against  sickness,  insurance  against  accidents,  and 
insurance  against  old  age.  The  last  three,  as  will  be  pointed 
out,  rest  upon  Imperial  statute  and  are  universal  throughout 
the  Empire;  the  first  has  not  been  made  the  subject  of  gen- 
eral legislation,  but  has  been  left  rather  to  be  administered 
by  municipal  and  local  authorities  and  by  private  philan- 
thropists. 

Officially,  Germany  has  never  admitted  the  Socialist  con- 
tention that  every  able-bodied  man  has  an  inalienable  right 
to  work.  But  the  devices  that  have  been  brought  to  bear  to 
minimize  the  evils  of  unemployment  tend  strongly  toward  a 
recognition  in  effect  of  this  principle.  The  German  method  of 
dealing  with  unemployment  is  the  very  practical  one  of 
bringing  together  with  as  little  delay  and  inconvenience  as 
may  be  those  who  want  work  and  those  who  want  workers. 
The  principal  instrument  employed  to  this  end  is  the  labor 
registration  bureau.  Here  and  there,  as  in  Leipsic,  there 
were  public  labor  bureaus  in  Germany  as  much  as  sixty-five 
years  ago,  and  the  earliest  private  establishment  of  the  kind 
was  founded  at  Stuttgart  in  1865.  The  impetus  which  led 
to  the  present  multiplicity  of  labor  bureaus,  however,  came 
from  a  social  congress  held  at  Berlin  in  1893.  There  are  in 
the  Empire  to-day  approximately  400  bureaus  maintained  by 
municipalities,  together  with  a  very  considerable  number 
maintained  by  trade-unions,  guilds,  and  private  persons. 

In  practically  every  industrial  centre  of  importance  there 
is  a  public  bureau,  and  by  these  alone  employment  is  found 
for  from  500,000  to  1,000,000  men  and  women  during  the 
~$irse  of  everv  twelvemonth,    ^ey  are  administered    *s 


GERMANY  AND  THE   COMMON  MAN  25 1 

a  rule,  by  special  municipal  officials  and  in  buildings  or  rooms 
set  apart  for  the  purpose.  Classified  lists  are  kept  on  file, 
both  of  persons  seeking  employment  and  of  persons  desiring 
laborers,  and  everybody  interested  is  invited  to  consult 
these  and  to  receive  any  supplementary  information  that 
may  be  in  the  possession  of  the  officials.  At  the  private 
registries  there  is  often  a  small  fee  to  be  paid,  but  the 
services  of  the  public  ones  are  almost  uniformly  free.  The 
period  for  which  an  applicant  registers  varies  from  two  weeks 
to  several  months,  and  it  may  be  extended  indefinitely.  At 
the  larger  registries  waiting-rooms  are  provided  in  which  the 
registered  unemployed  may  find  shelter  and  sustenance  dur- 
ing the  day,  and  in  which  from  time  to  time  lists  of  applica- 
tions for  laborers  are  read  aloud  by  the  official  in  charge. 
As  a  rule,  applicant^  for  skilled  labor  are  considered  in  the 
order  of  their  ability;  applicants  for  unskilled  work  in  the 
order  of  their  appearance,  save  that  priority  is  accorded  men 
who  are  heads  of  families.  The  Berlin  registry,  established  in 
1888,  is  conducted  on  non-municipal  lines  by  a  society  known  as 
the  Central  Association  for  Labor  Registration.  Since  1902 
its  work  has  been  carried  on  in  a  splendid  block  of  buildings 
of  its  own  in  the  Gormanstrasse.  In  the  centre  of  the  block 
is  a  great  open  hall,  capable  of  seating  1400  persons,  in 
which  seekers  of  employment  sit,  grouped  by  occupations, 
awaiting  the  announcement  of  positions  to  be  filled.  In 
1908  this  bureau  alone  secured  work  for  120,000  persons. 
In  many  centres,  as  Berlin,  Munich,  and  Diisseldorf,  there 
is  a  tendency  toward  the  amalgamation  of  trade-union  and 
private  registries  with  the  public  ones,  to  the  end  that  all 
agencies  of  the  sort  within  a  city  may  be  brought  under  a 
common  management.  The  municipal  bureaus  of  the  several 
states,  furthermore,  are  generally  organized  in  an  associa- 
tion, as  that  of  Bavaria,  that  of  Baden,  etc.,  in  order  that 
uniformity  of  practice  may  be  maintained,  lists  of  appli- 
cants   may    be    interchanged,    and    special     surpluses    01 


252    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

shortages  may  be  more  readily  handled.  These  state  or- 
ganizations in  practice  fulfil  the  function  of  employment 
clearing-houses.1 

The  services  rendered  by  the  labor  bureaus  are  supple- 
mented by  those  of  certain  other  agencies,  notably  the  Her- 
bergen  zur  Heimath,  or  "home  lodging-houses,"  and  the 
Verpflegungsstationen,  or  "public  relief  stations."  It  is 
recognized  in  Germany  that  under  modern  economic  condi- 
tions a  certain  amount  of  unemployment  is  inevitable.  Strikes, 
lockouts,  failures,  business  depression,  the  invention  of  new 
methods  or  machinery,  involve  constantly,  in  some  measure, 
the  perpetual  dislocation  of  industry.  To  the  end  that  the 
man  in  need  of  work  may  be  encouraged  to  set  actively  about 
the  finding  of  it,  there  have  been  established  hundreds  of 
lodging-houses  and  relief  stations  which  minister  exclusively 
to  the  wandering  laborer,  and  it  is  possible  to-day  for  a  man 
of  this  class  to  traverse  very  nearly  all  parts  of  the  Empire, 
earning  his  way  as  he  goes,  or  receiving  sustenance  and  shelter 
entirely  without  cost.  The  Herbergen  are  private  establish- 
ments, founded  and  maintained  by  philanthropic  individuals  or 
societies.  The  first  one  was  opened  at  Bonn  in  1854  by  a 
professor  in  the  university,  Clemens  Theodor  Perthes.  The 
majority  are  organized  in  connection  with  labor  registries, 
and  more  than  half  of  them  have  savings-bank  features. 
They  are  required  to  be  controlled  by  responsible  committees, 
to  be  clean  and  cheap,  and  to  be  conducted  with  a  view  to  the 
inculcation  of  morality  and  thrift.  In  order  to  procure  ad- 
mission, the  worker  must  prove  that  he  needs  assistance  and 
must  be  able  to  produce  a  passport  showing  that  he  has  re- 
cently been  employed.  He  can  pay  some  twelve  cents  for 
his  lodging  and  breakfast,  or,  if  he  has  less  than  a  mark  in 
cash,  he  can  make  the  necessary  settlement  by  spending  four 
hours  at  wood-chopping  or  some  other  simple  form  of  labor. 

1  For  a  description  of  a  typical  municipal  bureau  —  that  of  Munich  —  see 
Dawson,  "The  German  Workman,"  chap.  2. 


GERMANY  AND  THE  COMMON  MAN 


253 


The  relief  station  differs  from  the  Herberge  principally  in 
that  it  is  a  public  institution.  To  destitute  wanderers  it 
likewise  offers  food  and  lodging,  but  only  in  return  for  work. 
Here,  also,  no  one  may  be  admitted  unless  he  can  produce 
a  certificate  or  other  evidence  of  recent  employment.  In  the 
industrial  regions  of  southern  Germany,  especially  West- 
phalia, the  lodging-house  and  relief  station  have  been  devel- 
oped to  such  a  degree  that  vagabonds  and  beggary  have  all 
but  disappeared.  There  are  some  two  score  labor  colonies, 
too  —  some  public  and  some  private  —  in  which  agriculture 
is  carried  on  for  the  support  of  such  men  as  care  to  join  them. 
They  are  not  penal  establishments,  but  they  are  closely 
regulated,  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  economic  scale  they 
fulfil  a  distinctly  useful  function. 

Finally,  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  insurance  against 
unemployment,  although  this  particular  form  of  social  ameli- 
oration has  not  been  carried  as  far  in  Germany  as  in  a  few 
other  countries.  The  first  experiment  of  the  sort  was  begun 
at  Cologne  in  1894  under  the  immediate  inspiration  of  the 
success  of  the  Swiss,  especially  at  Berne,  in  this  field.  An 
endowment  fund  was  contributed,  in  part  by  the  city  council 
and  in  part  by  private  philanthropists,  and  the  work  of  ad- 
ministration was  vested  in  an  Unemployment  Bureau  con- 
sisting of  twenty-six  citizens  representative  of  all  parties  and 
social  classes.  To  avail  himself  of  the  benefits  of  the  system, 
the  skilled  laborer  was  required  to  pay  in  45  pfennigs,  and 
the  unskilled  35,  a  week  during  thirty-four  weeks  of  the  year. 
Between  December  1  and  March  1  a  member  who  lacked 
employment  was  entitled  to  draw  from  the  fund  two  marks  a 
day  during  twenty  days  succeeding  the  third  day  of  work- 
lessness,  and  thereafter  one  mark  a  day.  Membership  was 
opened  to  all  independent  able-bodied  workingmen  eighteen 
years  of  age  and  over  and  resident  in  Cologne  at  least  twelve 
months.  For  a  time  the  institution  grew  slowly,  but  it  is 
now  thoroughly  established,  and,  with  diverse  regulations 


254    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

and  conditions  of  membership,  other  institutions  of  the  sort 
are  springing  up  in  various  population  centres,  as  in  Munich 
and  in  Leipsic. 

The  varied  agencies  that  have  been  mentioned  —  labor 
registries,  Herbergen,  relief  stations,  labor  colonies,  and 
unemployment  insurance  —  exist  by  virtue  of  municipal, 
corporate,  ecclesiastical,  or  private  enterprise.  Within  the 
past  generation  there  has  grown  up,  however,  a  vast  system 
of  industrial  insurance,  Imperial  in  sanction  and  in  scope,  by 
which  the  arrangements  described  are  supplemented  and 
enveloped.  There  is  in  most  European  countries  to-day  a 
tendency  toward  the  development  of  a  complete  and  sym- 
metrical scheme  under  which  workingmen  may  be  insured 
against  all  contingencies  involving  the  termination  or  inter- 
ruption of  support  from  wages  and  arising  from  any  cause 
other  than  the  voluntary  cessation  of  labor.  In  the  realiza- 
tion of  this  tremendous  programme  Germany  was  the  pioneer 
and  is  still  the  leader ;  and  without  question  one  of  the  reasons 
for  the  remarkable  advance  of  German  industrial  power  is 
to  be  found  at  just  this  point.  German  industrial  insurance 
falls  into  three  principal  phases  :  insurance  against  accidents, 
insurance  against  sickness,  and  insurance  against  old  age 
and  invalidity.  Prior  to  191 1  each  of  these  three  kinds  of 
insurance  was  regulated  by  an  independent  law  or  code  of 
laws.  But,  historically,  the  three  are  intimately  associated 
as  parts  of  one  great  social  project. 

The  war  with  France  in  1870-71  was  followed  in  Ger- 
many by  a  remarkable  outburst  of  economic  activity,  one 
result  of  which  was  a  very  rapid  increase  in  both  the  numbers 
and  the  latent  powers  of  the  industrial  elements  of  the  coun- 
try's population.  The  transition  to  industrialism  was  pro- 
ductive of  social  unrest  quite  comparable  with  that  which 
had  been  occasioned  in  England  by  a  similar  development 
during  the  early  decades  of  the  century.  Among  the  dis- 
contented the  propaganda  of  socialism,  instituted  by  the  fol- 


GERMANY  AND   THE  COMMON  MAN  255 

lowers  of  Marx  and  Lassalle  at  the  middle  of  the  century, 
began  to  make  rapid  headway.  Between  1872  and  1877  the 
number  of  avowed  Socialists  in  the  Empire  rose  from  125,000 
to  upwards  of  500,000.  In  view  of  the  recent  establishment 
in  the  Imperial  constitution  of  manhood  suffrage  in  parlia- 
mentary elections,  the  prevailing  disaffection  gave  promise 
of  acquiring  grave  political  consequence.  The  government 
took  alarm  and,  following  two  unsuccessful  attempts  upon  the 
life  of  the  Emperor,  wrongly  attributed  by  Bismarck  to 
Socialist  conspiracies,  a  sweeping  Imperial  measure  was 
enacted  in  1878  by  which  it  was  sought  to  suppress  socialistic 
agitation  altogether.  Some  of  the  demands  which  the  more 
moderate  of  the  Socialists  were  making,  however,  seemed  to 
the  Chancellor  not  unreasonable,  and  at  the  time  when  the 
repressive  act  was  passed  he  virtually  pledged  the  govern- 
ment to  the  consideration  of  a  number  of  specific  reforms  by 
which  the  relations  of  the  various  classes  of  society  should  be 
improved  and  the  welfare  of  the  industrial  masses  in  partic- 
ular should  be  promoted. 

It  was,  in  part  at  least,  in  fulfilment  of  this  pledge  that 
Bismarck,  in  1881,  came  forward  with  his  memorable  pro- 
gramme of  social  insurance.  The  Socialists  —  especially 
the  "State  Socialists"  of  the  Wagner-Schmoller  school  — 
are  to  be  regarded  as  in  a  very  real  sense  the  authors  of  this 
programme ;  but  to  meet  their  more  pressing  demands,  to 
allay  discontent  and  to  prevent  further  triumphs  of  the  revo- 
lutionary propaganda,  Bismarck  made  the  scheme  his  own 
and  contrived  not  only  to  win  for  it  the  support  of  his  Im- 
perial master,  William  I.,  but  to  force  the  proposed  reforms 
through  an  avowedly  reluctant  parliament.  "That  the 
state,"  he  declared,  "should  interest  itself  to  a  greater  degree 
than  hitherto  in  those  of  its  members  who  need  assistance, 
is  not  only  a  duty  of  humanity  and  Christianity  —  by  which 
state  institutions  should  be  permeated  —  but  a  duty  of 
state-preserving  policy,  whose  aim  should  be  to  cultivate 


256    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  conception  —  and  that,  too,  amongst  the  non-propertied 
classes,  which  form  at  once  the  most  numerous  and  the  least 
instructed  part  of  the  population  —  that  the  state  is  not 
merely  a  necessity  but  a  beneficent  institution.  These 
classes  must,  by  the  evident  and  direct  advantages  which 
are  secured  to  them  by  legislative  measures,  be  led  to  regard 
the  state  not  as  an  institution  contrived  for  the  protection  of 
the  better  classes  of  society,  but  as  one  serving  their  own 
needs  and  interests.  The  apprehension  that  a  socialistic 
element  might  be  introduced  into  legislation  if  this  end  were 
followed  should  not  check  us."  As  is  sufficiently  apparent, 
the  political  ideal  underlying  this  exhortation  was  that 
of  thoroughgoing,  but  beneficent,  paternalism.  "Give  the 
workingman  the  right  to  work  as  long  as  he  is  healthy," 
Bismarck  further  contended  in  1884;  "assure  him  care  when 
he  is  sick,  and  maintenance  when  he  is  old.  Do  not  fear  the 
sacrifice  involved,  or  cry  out  at  state  socialism,  as  soon  as  the 
words  'provision  for  old  age'  are  uttered.  If  the  state  will 
show  a  little  more  Christian  solicitude  for  the  workingman, 
then  the  Socialists  will  sing  their  siren  song  in  vain,  and  the 
workingmen  will  cease  to  throng  to  their  banner  as  soon  as 
they  see  that  the  government  and  the  legislative  bodies  are 
earnestly  concerned  for  their  welfare."  What  the  Chancellor 
hoped  to  do,  in  brief,  was  to  cure  the  Empire  of  socialism 
by  inoculation. 

Earlier  in  the  century  there  had  been  in  Germany  some 
beginnings  of  industrial  insurance,  so  that  Bismarck's  system 
is  not  to  be  regarded  as  having  been  created  absolutely  de 
novo.  Those  beginnings,  however,  had  been  crude  and 
sporadic.  In  the  matter  of  accidents  a  Prussian  statute  of 
1838  had  legalized,  in  respect  to  railways,  the  principle  of 
employer's  liability,  and  in  1871  the  principle  had  been  ex- 
tended to  factories,  mines,  and  quarries.  But  the  burden  of 
proof  imposed  upon  the  employe  was  so  heavy  that  in  effect 
the  law  conferred  small  benefit.     From  early  times  the  guilds 


GERMANY  AND  THE   COMMON  MAN  257 

and  associations  of  journeymen  had  as  one  of  their  principal 
functions  the  affording  of  relief  to  their  members  in  time  of 
sickness,  and  by  statutes  of  1845,  1849,  and  1854  the  kingdom 
of  Prussia  legalized  and  encouraged  these  benevolent  ac- 
tivities. It  is  worth  observing,  indeed,  that  by  the  law  of 
1854  power  was  given  local  authorities  both  to  require  the 
formation  of  insurance  societies  and  to  compel  certain  classes 
of  employers  to  contribute  one-half  of  the  necessary  cost, 
thus  introducing  for  the  first  time  the  principle  of  obligatory 
insurance.  The  memorable  German  Workingmen's  Society 
founded  at  the  middle  of  the  century  by  Lassalle  had  as  one 
of  its  features  an  elaborate  insurance  system,  as  did  vari- 
ous other  later  organizations  of  the  character.  In  Saxony, 
Bavaria,  Baden,  Wiirttemberg,  and  several  of  the  minor 
German  states,  sickness  and  accident  insurance  was  not 
uncommon  by  1880,  and  in  a  number  of  instances  it  included 
compulsory  features. 

Bismarck's  first  Imperial  insurance  measure  was  laid  before 
the  Reichstag,  March  8,  1881.  It  was  restricted  to  accident 
insurance,  and  the  substance  of  it  was  that  all  proprietors  of 
factories,  mines,  and  other  industrial  establishments  should 
be  compelled  to  insure  their  employes  against  occupational 
accidents,  either  in  an  Imperial  insurance  department  or  in 
mutual  associations  of  employers.  Toward  the  raising  of 
the  necessary  funds  both  employers  and  employes  were 
to  be  required  to  contribute,  and  the  Empire  was  pledged  to 
provide  a  special  appropriation.  The  Reichstag  assented  to 
the  principle  of  obligatory  insurance,  but  it  refused  to  vote 
the  requisite  subsidy,  and  it  declared  for  a  scheme  under  which 
each  state  of  the  Empire  should  maintain  its  own  individual 
insurance  arrangements.  Bismarck  refused  to  yield,  and  the 
deadlock  was  broken  only  by  the  Emperor  himself,  who, 
November  17,  1881,  transmitted  to  the  Reichstag  a  memo- 
rable message  in  which  was  outlined  the  proposed  programme 
of  the  government,  and  solemn  affirmation  was  made  of  the 


258    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

"necessity  of  furthering  the  welfare  of  the  working  people" 
and  of  rendering  "the  needy  that  assistance  to  which  they  are 
justly  entitled."  May  8,  1882,  two  new  measures  were 
submitted,  one  dealing  with  accident,  and  the  other  with 
sickness,  insurance.  The  two  bills  were  closely  related,  but 
for  political  reasons  they  were  given  separate  consideration. 
The  sickness  insurance  law  was  passed  June  15,  1883,  and 
went  into  effect  December  1,  1884.  The  accident  insurance 
measure  was  passed  July  6,  1884,  and  became  effective 
October  1,  1885.  After  these  were  well  in  operation,  the 
third  project  —  that  of  insurance  against  old  age  and  invalid- 
ity —  was  broached,  the  first  draft  of  the  bill  upon  this 
subject  making  its  appearance  November  17,  1887.  The 
old  age  and  invalidity  measure  was  passed  June  22,  1889,  and 
went  into  effect  January  1,  1891. 

At  various  times  following  the  dates  mentioned,  one  or 
another  of  the  three  laws  was  amended,  and  between  1889 
and  1903  all  were  revised  and  to  some  extent  unified.  Fi- 
nally, July  19,  191 1,  there  was  enacted  a  gigantic  statute  in 
which  is  codified  the  whole  of  the  legislation  relating  to  the 
several  branches  of  workingmen's  insurance  in  the  Empire. 
The  vastness  to  which  the  subject  has  grown  may  be  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  the  statute  of  191 1  contains  a  total  of  1805 
articles,  in  addition  to  an  "introductory  law"  containing  104 
more.  The  present  code  embodies  the  development  of  a 
scheme  of  compulsory  insurance  running  through  a  quarter 
of  a  century  and  covering  practically  the  entire  industrial 
population  of  the  Empire  —  easily  the  most  elaborate  system 
of  the  sort  that  the  world  has  ever  known. 

The  sickness  insurance  law  of  1883  was  extended  at  first 
to  persons  employed  only  in  factories,  mines,  quarries,  and 
certain  other  industrial  establishments,  and  receiving  an 
annual  wage  of  not  over  2000  marks  ($476),  but  by  successive 
amendments  the  provisions  of  the  measure  have  been  made 
to  apply  to  a  very  much  larger  body  of  people.    The  act  of 


GERMANY   AND  THE   COMMON  MAN  259 

191 1  makes  compulsory  for  the  first  time  the  insurance  of 
agricultural  laborers,  teachers,  household  servants,  members 
of  theatrical  companies,  persons  engaged  in  household  indus- 
tries, seamen,  and  a  large  number  of  other  classes  of  employes 
—  in  effect  extending  the  system  to  workers  of  every  sort 
whose  annual  wage  or  salary  falls  below  2000  marks.  The 
law  provides  for  eight  absolutely  independent  kinds  of  sickness 
insurance  funds,  each  to  be  administered  for  the  benefit  of 
certain  stipulated  classes  or  bodies  of  people.  There  is,  for 
example,  the  "local  fund,"  to  which,  in  certain  localities, 
all  workingmen  of  the  community  belong ;  the  "  factory 
fund,"  in  which  the  workmen  of  an  industrial  establishment 
employing  more  than  fifty  hands  are  insured ;  and  the 
"miners'  fund,"  maintained  exclusively  for  miners.  In  so 
far  as  possible,  preexisting  Krankenkassen,  or  sick  benefit 
societies,  have  been  perpetuated  and  adapted  to  the  purposes 
of  the  present  system.  Each  fund  is  sustained  by  the  work- 
ingmen and  the  employers,  with  occasionally  some  assistance 
from  the  community  and  from  private  individuals.  As  a 
rule,  the  employers  contribute  one-third  and  the  workingmen 
two-thirds;  though  the  new  law  prescribes  that  contribu- 
tions to  one  of  the  classes  known  as  "guild  funds"  may  be 
levied  equally  upon  the  two  parties.  In  practice,  the  em- 
ployers pay  the  entire  amounts  and  deduct  accordingly 
from  the  employe's  wages.  The  expense  to  the  worker  is 
very  small.  It  varies  according  to  the  trade  and  the  locality 
between  i\  per  cent  and  4  per  cent  of  the  daily  wage,  rarely 
exceeding  3  per  cent.  The  funds  are  administered  by  boards 
representing  both  employers  and  employes,  the  members 
being  chosen  at  meetings  in  which  it  is  the  privilege  of  every 
contributor  to  take  part.  The  benefits  comprise,  in  the 
main,  free  medical  and  surgical  treatment,  hospital  or  home 
care,  burial  money  in  the  event  of  death,  and  a  sick  allowance 
amounting  to  one-half  (in  some  instances  three-fourths)  of 
the  wage  the  beneficiary  is  accustomed  to  receive,  and  begin- 


260    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

ning  the  third  day  of  sickness.  If  illness  is  continued  beyond 
a  half-year,  the  burden  is  transferred  to  the  accident  insurance 
fund.  These  are  but  the  benefits  which  the  law  prescribes. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  larger  industrial  centres  others  of  a 
social  or  charitable  nature  are  not  infrequently  extended.  In 
1907  the  number  of  sickness  insurance  societies  in  the  Empire 
was  23,232,  and  the  number  of  persons  insured  through  them 
was  12,138,966  (8,972,210  men  and  3,166,756  women),  com- 
prising approximately  19  per  cent  of  the  Empire's  population. 
When  the  new  provisions  of  the  act  of  191 1  shall  have  gone 
into  effect,  the  number  will  be  materially  increased. 

The  original  accident  insurance  law,  enacted  in  1884, 
applied  only  to  certain  specified  and  supposedly  more  hazard- 
ous trades,  but  by  subsequent  legislation  the  scope  of  it  was 
broadened  until  to-day  the  industries  which  remain  untouched 
by  it  are  few.  Except  in  these  few  industries,  all  working- 
men,  irrespective  of  wages,  and  all  inferior  administrative 
and  operating  officials  whose  yearly  salaries  do  not  exceed 
5000  marks  are  required  to  be  insured.  The  funds  by  which 
the  system  is  maintained  are  contributed  entirely  by  the 
employers.  When  a  man  sets  up  or  acquires  an  industrial 
establishment,  he  automatically  becomes  a  member  of  the 
association  covering  his  business,  and  is  bound  to  contrib- 
ute to  its  insurance  fund  in  proportion  to  his  pay-roll  and 
to  the  degree  of  risk  assumed  by  laborers  in  his  employ. 
The  administration  of  the  law  rests  with  the  employers,  and 
it  is  within  the  competence  of  their  associations  not  only 
to  classify  trades  and  fix  the  danger  schedule,  but  to  enforce 
regulations  and  the  use  of  appliances  for  the  prevention  of 
accidents.  The  scale  of  compensation  is  determined  by  law, 
and  every  accidental  injury  or  death,  except  such  as  is  incurred 
by  the  culpable  negligence  of  the  employe,  is  indemnified. 
Compensation  for  injury  consists  of  free  medical  attendance ; 
a  cash  benefit  during  disablement,  which  for  total  disability 
amounts  to  two-thirds  of  the  wages  received  during  the 


GERMANY  AND  THE   COMMON  MAN  261 

preceding  year,  and  for  partial  disability  is  two-thirds  of 
the  impairment  of  the  earning  power;  or,  in  lieu  of  the  cash 
benefit,  free  hospital  treatment  until  cured  and  a  reduced 
cash  benefit  for  dependents.  During  the  first  thirteen  weeks 
of  disablement  from  accident,  however,  benefits  are  paid 
from  the  sick  fund,  and  only  after  the  expiration  of  that 
period  from  the  accident  fund.  In  the  event  of  accidental 
death  compensation  consists  of  a  burial  benefit  equal  to 
one-fifteenth  of  the  yearly  wage,  together  with  pensions,  in 
varying  amounts  under  varying  circumstances,  for  widows, 
children,  and  other  dependents.  Between  1885  and  1907 
the  number  of  persons  covered  by  accident  insurance  rose 
from  3,251,336  to  21,172,027. 

The  law  establishing  invalidity  and  old-age  insurance  went 
into  operation  January  1,  1891.  It  was  replaced  by  a  new 
statute  upon  the  subject  in  1899,  and  it  is  significant  to 
note  that  whereas  the  original  measure  was  forced  through 
the  Reichstag  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  being  carried 
eventually  by  the  slender  majority  of  twenty  votes,  the  act 
of  1899,  by  which  the  scope  of  old-age  insurance  was  materially 
broadened,  was  carried  almost  unanimously.  The  applica- 
tion of  the  law  was  further  extended  by  the  revision  of  191 1, 
notably  in  respect  to  "survivors'  insurance,"  i.e.,  the  insurance 
of  widows  and  orphans.  The  law  now  provides  that  all 
persons  over  the  age  of  sixteen,  working  for  wages,  must 
insure  against  invalidity  and  old  age.  Invalidity  is  defined 
as  total  and  permanent  disability  not  caused  by  occupa- 
tional accident.  The  law  extends,  also,  to  numerous  groups 
of  salaried  men  and  women,  especially  teachers  and  manag- 
ing employes,  whose  annual  earnings  fall  below  2000  marks. 
The  cost  of  old-age  and  invalidity  pensions  is  borne  in  part 
by  the  Imperial  treasury,  but  principally  by  funds  contrib- 
uted equally  by  the  insured  and  their  employers.  The 
system  represents  in  effect  a  compromise  between  the  desire 
of  some  that  the  state  bear  the  whole  of  the  cost  and  that  of 


262    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

others  who  advocated  nothing  more  than  a  device  for  com- 
pulsory saving.  The  contribution  made  by  the  workingman 
varies  from  7  to  18  pfennigs  (15  to  4  cents)  a  week,  according 
to  the  amount  of  wages  received.  The  law  entitles  all 
contributing  wage-earners  to  (1)  an  invalidity  annuity  in  the 
event  of  permanent  disability  (save  by  occupational  accident) 
so  complete  that  as  much  as  two-thirds  of  the  individual's 
earning-power  is  lost,  and  (2)  an  old-age  annuity,  payable  to 
all  who  attain  the  age  of  seventy,  without  regard  to  physi- 
cal capacity.  The  amount  of  payment  is  fixed  in  accordance 
with  a  five-fold  schedule  of  wages  and  contributions,  on  the 
general  principle  that  the  beneficiary  shall  receive  a  sum 
equivalent  to  two-thirds  of  the  average  wage  of  the  class  to 
which  he  belongs.  Old-age  pensions  are  paid  primarily 
from  the  general  invalidity  fund,  but  to  each  pension  the 
Imperial  Government  adds  fifty  marks  ($11.90)  a  year. 
Aside  from  bearing  the  expenses  of  administration  and  pay- 
ing the  contributions  of  men  while  serving  in  the  army  and 
navy,  this,  indeed,  is  the  only  fiscal  burden  which  the  govern- 
ment assumes  in  relation  to  any  part  of  the  entire  insurance 
system.  Some  outlay,  of  course,  is  involved  in  the  gather- 
ing of  statistics,  the  deciding  of  appeals,  and  other  incidental 
activities,  but  the  total  obligation  which  falls  upon  the 
Imperial  treasury  is  small.  In  1906  it  amounted  to  only 
48,757,608  marks.  In  1907  the  number  of  persons  insured 
against  invalidity  and  old  age  was  14,958,118  (10,350,293 
men  and  4,607,825  women). 

"I  do  not  believe,"  declared  Bismarck  in  the  Reichstag 
in  1881,  "that  either  our  sons  or  grandsons  will  quite  dispose 
of  the  social  question  which  has  been  hovering  before  us  for 
fifty  years."  Certainly  that  question  has  not  been  disposed 
of  in  Germany  as  yet.  On  the  contrary,  in  few  countries  is 
there  to-day  a  greater  multiplicity  of  problems  of  an  essen- 
tially social  character.  Only  this  year  a  book  has  been 
published  by  a  German  sociologist  in  which  is  contained  a 


GERMANY  AND   THE   COMMON  MAN  263 

scathing  arraignment  of  social  conditions  within  the  Empire, 
demonstrating  to  what  an  extent  labor  laws  are  violated, 
city  populations  are  overcrowded,  workingmen's  children 
are  underfed  and  under-developed,  poverty  and  disease  are 
prevalent  in  even  the  most  favored  portions  of  the  country, 
and  social  misery  fails  to  be  alleviated  by  any  and  all  of  the 
agencies,  public  and  private,  that  have  been  brought  to  bear 
upon  it.1  After  full  allowance  has  been  made,  however,  the 
fact  remains  that  the  most  daring,  the  most  comprehensive, 
and  probably  the  most  effective  of  all  modern  programmes  of 
social  amelioration  is  that  which  since  187 1  has  been  carried 
into  execution  in  the  German  Empire.  But  for  the  successful 
operation  of  the  devices  that  have  been  described,  and  of 
others  not  here  mentioned,  it  would  hardly  have  been  possi- 
sible  for  the  most  rapidly  growing  and  swiftly  changing  of 
European  populations  to  acquire  even  its  present  degree  of 
well-being  and  contentment.  Without  undermining  the 
safeguards  of  individual  industry  and  of  thrift,  the  state 
seems  abundantly  to  have  succeeded  in  developing  in  the 
workingman  that  sense  of  security  and  of  loyalty  which  is 
admittedly  a  requisite  of  national  power. 

'Otto  Riihle,  "Das  proletarische  Kind"  (Munich,  1912). 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   SPREAD  OF   SOCIAL  INSURANCE 

The  programme  of  workingmen's  insurance  which  Bismarck 
succeeded  in  carrying  through  in  Germany  during  the  decade 
1 88 1-9 1  was  an  innovation  in  respect  to  its  comprehen- 
siveness, its  connection  with  the  state,  and  the  compulsory 
nature  of  the  benefits  which  it  sought  to  bestow.  In  several 
countries,  including  Prussia  and  other  parts  of  Germany, 
there  existed  prior  to  1880  various  arrangements  for  insur- 
ance against  accidents  and  sickness ;  but  these  arrangements 
were  applied  to  small  groups  of  men,  in  most  instances  were 
voluntary  rather  than  obligatory  and  private  rather  than 
public,  and  at  the  best  were  sporadic  and  unsystematic. 
Impelled  by  a  public  minister  who  viewed  things  in  the  large, 
and,  dominated  by  the  spirit  of  thoroughness  which  is  char- 
acteristic of  German  legislation,  the  Germans  of  a  generation 
ago  led  the  way  in  the  elaboration  of  a  great  coordinated 
scheme  under  which  the  entire  wage-earning  body  may  be 
protected  against  economic  misfortune,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  burden  of  social  support  may  be  distributed  with  equity 
among  those  who  ought  to  bear  it.  At  the  time  the  German 
experiment  was  contemplated  in  many  quarters  with  surprise, 
and  even  with  abhorrence.  To  many  the  scheme  seemed 
especially  objectionable  by  reason  of  the  large  elements  of 
state  socialism  which  unquestionably  were  involved  in  it, 
although,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  the  project  was  advocated 
by  Bismarck  primarily  as  an  agency  by  which  the  progress 
of  socialism  —  revolutionary  socialism  at  least  —  might  be 

stayed. 

r>64 


THE   SPREAD   OF  SOCIAL  INSURANCE  265 

The  success  of  the  system,  however,  was  instantaneous, 
and  gradually  the  critics,  both  in  and  out  of  Germany,  were 
obliged  to  revise  their  opinions.  The  growth  of  socialism 
was  by  no  means  estopped,  but  —  what  was  more  important 
—  it  was  demonstrated  that  Germany  had  hit  upon  a  scheme 
of  social  conservation  by  which  was  increased  tremendously 
the  security  and  efficiency  of  her  fast-growing  industrial 
population,  and  at  an  expense  which,  considering  the  magni- 
tude of  the  end  attained,  was  slight.  The  upshot  was  that 
one  after  another  of  the  states  of  Europe  was  moved  to 
investigate  the  possibilities  of  public  insurance  and  to  enact 
insurance  measures  directly  inspired  by  German  models, 
and  following  more  or  less  closely  the  lines  which  by  the 
Germans  had  been  marked  out.  It  is  not  to  be  assumed, 
of  course,  that  no  one  of  these  states  would  have  entered 
the  field  independently,  but  certainly  it  is  true  that  every 
one  of  them,  as  a  matter  of  historical  fact,  has  availed  itself 
freely  of  the  example  and  the  experience  of  the  German 
Empire.  There  are  to-day  social  insurance  systems,  more  or 
less  elaborate,  in  Great  Britain,  France,  Holland,  Belgium, 
Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  Austria. 
Even  in  Russia  and  some  of  the  minor  Balkan  states  there 
are  the  beginnings  of  such  systems.  One  may  say  not  only 
that  workingmen's  insurance  in  some  form  is  at  present 
well-nigh  universal  in  Europe,  but  that,  in  most  countries 
at  least,  there  is  a  pronounced  trend  in  the  direction  of  a 
more  complete  and  connected  system  than  as  yet  exists.  No 
one  can  follow  the  course  of  European  legislation  without 
being  aware  that  the  past  decade  has  been  exceedingly  fruit- 
ful, in  England,  France,  Belgium,  and  several  other  countries, 
in  measures  looking  toward  social  amelioration  in  general 
and  the  extension  of  workingmen's  insurance  in  particular. 

Nowhere  was  the  German  scheme  of  compulsory  insurance 
subjected  to  heartier  criticism  a  generation  ago  than  in 
Great  Britain.     In  view  of  this  fact  it  is  interesting  to  observe 


266    SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

that  in  Great  Britain  to-day  there  exist  insurance  arrange- 
ments which  at  some  points  transcend  the  German,  and 
that,  on  the  whole,  no  important  European  state  save  Ger- 
many herself  has  yielded  so  unreservedly  to  the  insurance 
idea  as  has  the  United  Kingdom.  The  triumph  of  social 
insurance  at  Westminster  has  come  principally  within  the 
past  six  and  a  half  years,  i.e.,  since  the  accession  of  the 
Liberal  party  to  power  in  December,  1905.1  The  Liberals 
entered  office  with  a  programme  in  which  a  very  large  place 
was  accorded  to  social  legislation,  including  the  remedying 
of  unemployment,  the  establishment  of  old-age  pensions,  the 
adjustment  of  labor  issues,  and  the  general  amelioration  of 
the  circumstances  attending  the  existence  of  the  poor  and 
the  unfortunate.  The  record  of  achievement,  while  not  one 
of  unqualified  success,  or  at  all  points  of  unquestionable 
statesmanship,  has  been  remarkable.  Four  aspects  of  it 
which  relate  especially  to  the  subject  of  social  insurance  call 
for  present  attention:  (1)  the  passage  of  the  Workmen's 
Compensation  Act  of  1906;  (2)  the  adoption,  in  1908,  of  a 
general  scheme  of  old-age  pensions,  extended  in  scope  by 
legislation  of  1909 ;  (3)  the  establishment,  by  the  National 
Insurance  Act  of  191 1,  of  an  elaborate  system  of  insurance 
against  sickness,  involving  the  creation  of  important  agencies 
for  the  conservation  of  the  national  health ;  and  (4)  the  insti- 
tution, under  terms  of  the  measure  last  mentioned,  of  an 
experimental  scheme  of  insurance  against  unemployment  in 
the  building  and  engineering  trades. 

In  respect  to  occupational  accidents  there  is  not  in  Great 

1  The  Conservative  ministry  of  Arthur  J.  Balfour  resigned  December  4, 
igos,  although  commanding  a  nominal  majority  of  76  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. A  Liberal  ministry  under  Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman  assumed 
office,  and,  January  8,  1906,  the  "Khaki"  Parliament,  elected  during  the  progress 
of  the  South  African  war,  was  dissolved.  The  elections  which  ensued  resulted  in 
an  overwhelming  Liberal  victory.  The  Liberals  obtained  429  seats,  the  Con- 
servatives 157,  the  Irish  Nationalists  83.  The  Liberal  tenure  of  power,  though 
at  times  seriously  menaced,  has  continued  uninterruptedly  to  the  present  day. 


THE   SPREAD   OF   SOCIAL  INSURANCE  267 

Britain  as  yet  a  system  of  compulsory  insurance,  but  there 
is  a  thoroughgoing  employer's  liability  law,  and  under  the 
pressure  of  it  large  numbers  of  employers  carry  insurance 
in  ordinary  insurance  companies  or  in  specially  organized 
stock  companies.  This  law,  known  commonly  as  the  Work- 
men's Compensation  Act,  was  passed  in  1906,  and  its  effect, 
so  far  as  the  working  population  is  concerned,  is  to  guarantee 
protection  almost,  if  not  quite,  the  equal  of  that  which  would 
be  derived  from  a  compulsory  accident  insurance  statute  of 
the  German  type.  Prior  to  1880  workmen  in  the  United 
Kingdom  were  entitled  under  the  operation  of  the  common 
law  to  receive  assistance  in  the  event  of  injury,  but  compen- 
sation could  be  obtained  only  upon  irrefutable  proof  that  the 
employer  was  directly  responsible.  In  the  nature  of  things 
such  proof  was  frequently  difficult  to  bring,  and  the  employe 
was  left  without  protection  that  was  really  adequate.  The 
principle  of  liability  was  incorporated  in  statutory  law  for 
the  first  time  in  1880.  The  passage  of  the  act  of  1880  was 
made  possible  only  after  ten  years  of  agitation,  and  to  the 
end  it  was  opposed  by  all  of  the  great  manufacturing,  railway, 
and  mining  interests ;  yet  the  law  went  no  further  than  did 
a  Prussian  statute  passed  as  early  as  1838.  In  practice  the 
measure  proved  unsatisfactory  and  further  agitation  led  to 
the  Workingmen's  Compensation  Act  of  1897,  passed  by  a 
Conservative  government  under  the  leadership  of  Joseph 
Chamberlain.  This  statute,  in  which  the  principle  of  lia- 
bility was  affirmed  unconditionally,  applied  to  all  of  the 
so-called  dangerous  trades,  i.e.,  to  workmen  in  factories, 
quarries,  mines,  railway  service,  and  building  operations 
—  an  aggregate  of  approximately  one-half  of  the  laborers 
of  the  kingdom.  And  by  amendments  of  1900  and  1901 
persons  engaged  in  agriculture  and  ship-lading  were  included. 
After  1897  numerous  proposals  were  made  looking  toward 
the  broadening  of  the  applicability  of  the  measure,  and  finally, 
in  1906,  there  was  passed  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act 


268  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

which  is  to-day  in  operation.  This  measure,  framed  in 
accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  a  parliamentary 
commission,  amended  the  law  of  1897  at  a  number  of  points 
in  favor  of  the  workman,  and  extended  its  scope  so  that  it 
now  applies  to  virtually  all  occupations,  including  domestic 
servants.  All  manual  laborers  in  the  occupations  specified 
are  included  without  regard  to  wages,  and  all  clerks  and 
salaried  employes  whose  pay  is  less  than  £250  a  year.  Prior 
to  1906  the  number  of  persons  protected  was  7,000,000; 
to-day  it  is  approximately  13,000,000. 

As  the  law  now  stands,  any  employe  who  is  injured  at 
his  work  during  working  hours  is  entitled  to  compensation, 
regardless  of  circumstances,  provided  only  that  the  employe's 
ability  to  earn  full  wages  is  impaired  through  at  least  one 
week,  and  provided  also  that  injury  is  not  occasioned  by  the 
employe's  "serious  and  wilful  misconduct."  In  the  event 
of  disability  exceeding  in  duration  one  week  the  compensa- 
tion is  half  the  average  weekly  wage,  including  the  value  of 
board  and  lodging,  ranging  to  a  maximum  of  £1  per  week. 
If  injury  causes  permanent  disability,  this  compensation  is 
due  weekly  as  long  as  the  beneficiary  lives.  In  the  event 
of  the  employe's  death  the  employer  is  obligated  to  pay 
reasonable  medical  and  funeral  expenses  to  a  maximum  sum 
of  £10.  If,  however,  there  are  persons  who  are  wholly 
dependent  upon  the  wages  of  the  deceased,  the  employer 
is  required  further  to  pay  to  such  persons  a  sum  equivalent 
to  three  years'  wages,  the  maximum  being  fixed  at  £300  and 
the  minimum  at  £150.  Persons  partly  dependent  are  com- 
pensated at  special  rates.  The  employer  is  not  required, 
as  is  the  German  employer,  to  insure.  But  he  very  com- 
monly does  insure,  in  order  that  when  it  becomes  necessary 
for  him  to  pay  an  accident  benefit,  he  may  be  indemnified  by 
the  insurance  company.1 

1  The  text  of  the  British  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  of  iqo6  is  printed 
in  Lewis,  "State  Insurance,"  188-225. 


THE   SPREAD   OF   SOCIAL  INSURANCE  269 

A  second  very  important  phase  of  social  legislation  in 
contemporary  Britain  is  the  establishment,  in  1908,  of  an 
extended  system  of  insurance  against  old  age.  Pensions  for 
the  aged  were  advocated  as  early  as  1880,  and  through  a 
quarter  of  a  century  both  of  the  principal  parties  were 
profuse  in  promises  to  enact  legislation  upon  the  subject. 
In  1885,  the  year  following  the  adoption  of  Germany's  old- 
age  and  invalidity  insurance  law,  a  Select  Committee  on 
National  Provident  Insurance  was  created  by  Parliament 
to  investigate  pension  schemes,  but  after  two  years  the  com- 
mittee reported  that  the  obstacles  to  the  establishment  of 
compulsory  old-age  insurance  were  at  the  time  insuperable, 
and  no  action  was  taken.  Agitation  was  kept  up,  both  by 
those  who  were  in  favor  of  compulsory  contributions  to  a 
fund  for  old-age  pensions  and  by  those  who  were  inclined  to 
a  scheme  of  voluntary  insurance  supported  by  a  government 
subsidy.  Charles  Booth  long  urged  the  establishment  of  a 
system  whereby,  from  funds  supplied  by  an  increase  of  the 
income  tax,  every  man,  be  he  rich  or  poor,  should  be  entitled 
from  the  age  of  sixty-five  until  death  to  a  government  pen- 
sion of  five  shillings  a  week.  A  commission  appointed  by 
Gladstone  in  1893  failed  to  recommend  the  adoption  of  any 
one  of  several  pension  plans  to  which  it  gave  consideration, 
and  the  same  was  true  of  a  commission  appointed  in  1896. 
But  a  committee  constituted  in  1899  reported  definitely 
in  favor  of  a  plan,  which,  worked  over  by  two  succeeding 
committees,  appointed  in  1900  and  1903,  was  eventually 
adopted.  A  bill  upon  the  subject  was  introduced  in  1907. 
It  did  not  reach  a  vote,  but  the  next  year  Premier  Asquith 
brought  in  the  measure  in  a  revised  form,  and  in  the  House 
of  Commons  it  was  passed  by  the  overwhelming  majority 
of  417  to  29.  Approved  by  the  House  of  Lords  in  the  same 
year,  the  Old  Age  Pension  Act  became  law  under  circum- 
stances which  imparted  to  it  a  peculiarly  non-partisan 
and  national  character. 


270    SOCIAL   PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

The  general  features  of  the  British  scheme  are  reproduced 
from  the  old-age  pension  arrangements  of  Denmark,  estab- 
lished in  1891,  of  New  Zealand,  established  in  1898,  and  of 
New  South  Wales  and  Victoria,  established  in  1900.  They 
differ  materially  from  the  principal  features  of  the  German 
system,  which  have  been  described  elsewhere.  In  Germany 
pensions  are  paid  from  funds  contributed  jointly  by  employers 
and  employes,  supplemented  by  government  subsidies.  In 
Great  Britain  they  are  paid  entirely  from  funds  raised  by 
general  taxation,  no  contributions  on  the  part  of  either  em- 
ployers or  workingmen  being  required.  Those  who  framed 
the  act  of  1908  were  determined  from  the  outset  upon  the 
non-contributory  principle.  The  people  in  whose  behalf 
the  scheme  was  projected,  asserted  Mr.  Asquith,  find  it  at 
best  so  difficult  to  make  both  ends  meet  that  no  additional 
burden,  however  trifling,  ought  to  be  imposed.  As  the  law 
stands,  every  person,  male  or  female,  married  or  unmarried, 
over  seventy  years  of  age,  who  has  been  a  British  subject  at 
least  twenty  years  and  a  British  resident  at  least  twelve 
years,  and  who  has  not  been  habitually  disinclined  to  work, 
is  entitled  to  a  pension,  unless  he  or  she  enjoys  an  annual 
income  in  excess  of  £31  105.  ($153.41).  The  original  measure 
imposed  the  further  condition  that  the  pensioner  must  not 
be  in  receipt  of  poor  relief.  By  an  amending  act  of  1909 
(in  effect  January  1,  191 1),  however,  this  stipulation  was 
rescinded  and  the  poor-law  authorities  were  relieved  of  the 
care  of  163,000  paupers,  involving  a  saving  to  the  rates  of 
£21,951  a  week.  No  person  may  receive  a  pension  and  poor 
relief  simultaneously.  When  the  pension  becomes  available, 
poor  relief  automatically  ceases.  Receipt  of  a  pension, 
unlike  that  of  poor  relief,  involves  no  impairment  of  civil 
status.  Pensions  are  paid  weekly  in  advance  through  the 
postoffices  of  the  country.  The  amount  of  the  pension  is 
graduated  in  accordance  with  the  yearly  income  of  the 
recipient.     Qualified  persons  whose  annual  income  does  not 


THE   SPREAD   OF  SOCIAL  INSURANCE  271 

exceed  £21  receive  55.  a  week;  those  with  incomes  between 
£21  and  £23  125.  6d.  receive  45. ;  those  with  incomes  between 
£23  125.  6d.  and  £25  55.  receive  35.;  those  with  incomes 
between  £25  55.  and  £28  17s.  6d.  receive  25. ;  and  those 
with  incomes  between  £28  175.  6d.  and  £31  105.  receive  15. 
In  no  case  may  the  sum  of  independent  income  and  pension 
exceed  135.  ($3.12)  a  week. 

The  act  of  1908  went  into  effect  January  1,  1909.  Within 
three  months  claims  for  pensions  had  been  filed  to  the  number 
of  837,831,  and  647,494  pensions  had  been  granted.  A  year 
later  (March  31,  1910)  the  number  of  pensioners  was  699,352. 
Of  this  number  638,147  were  in  receipt  of  the  maximum 
weekly  allowance  of  55. ;  the  number  who  received  15.  was 
but  5560.  At  the  beginning  of  1911,  as  has  been  noted,  the 
body  of  pensioners  was  appreciably  enlarged  by  the  removal 
of  pauper  disqualification,  and  during  the  first  six  months 
of  191 1  the  average  weekly  number  of  persons  in  receipt  of 
pensions  was  901,605.  By  the  authors  of  the  project  it  was 
estimated  that  the  annual  burden  to  the  state  would  be 
approximately  £7,500,000,  although  it  was  freely  admitted 
that  pension  expenditures  would  tend  inevitably  to  be  in- 
creased. The  annual  cost  of  the  pensions  in  effect  March  31, 
191 1,  was  £9,700,000;  and  the  amount  carried  for  the  pur- 
pose in  the  budget  of  1911-12  was  £12,350,000.  It  is 
urged  by  many  that  the  age  of  eligibility  be  lowered  from 
seventy  to  sixty-five,  and  there  is  a  probability  that  in  time 
this  will  be  done.  According  to  a  statement  of  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  in  June,  191 1,  such  a  change  would  mean  an  added 
outlay  yearly  of  £7,750,000.  The  fiscal  difficulties  which 
would  arise  from  the  imposition  of  this  added  national 
burden   may  prove  prohibitive. 

The  extension  of  employers'  liability  and  the  provision  of 
pensions  for  the  aged  were  but  preliminaries  of  the  crowning 
project  of  social  amelioration  to  which  the  present  Liberal 
Government  early  devoted  itself.     In  a  very  considerable 


272    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

measure  this  project  was  realized,  late  in  1911,  in  the  passage 
of  a  National  Insurance  Act  which  comprises  easily  one  of 
the  most  important  pieces  of  legislation  in  the  history  of 
modern  Britain.  The  formulation  of  the  measure  was 
undertaken  actively  in  1908,  but  the  presentation  and  adoption 
of  it  were  delayed  by  the  Lords'  rejection  of  the  memorable 
budget  by  which  the  requisite  funds  were  to  be  supplied,  and 
by  the  general  election  and  the  parliamentary  unsettlement 
which  followed.  The  budget  of  1910-n  at  last  found  the 
money,  and  May  4,  191 1,  the  Lloyd  George  insurance  bill 
was  introduced  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  proposition 
was  received,  both  in  Parliament  and  outside,  with  marked 
favor,  and  before  the  year  was  out  it  was  enacted  into  law. 
The  twofold  nature  of  the  measure  is  indicated  by  the  title :  an 
act  "to  provide  for  Insurance  against  Loss  of  Health  and  for 
the  Prevention  and  Cure  of  Sickness,  and  for  Insurance  against 
Unemployment."  Part  I  of  the  act  relates  to  insurance  against 
ill-health ;   Part  II,  to  insure  against  lack  of  work. 

In  the  matter  of  sickness  insurance  the  framers  of  the  act 
of  191 1  did  not  find  the  field  wholly  unoccupied.  Through 
the  agency  of  what  are  known  as  "friendly  societies"  insur- 
ance against  illness  has  been  long  and  widely  practised. 
The  origin  of  these  societies  is  to  be  traced  to  the  guilds  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  some  of  the  organizations  have  survived 
without  a  break,  and  with  no  fundamental  change,  through 
many  hundreds  of  years.  By  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  there  were  some  thousands  of  societies,  and  in  the 
nineteenth  century  very  many  new  ones  were  established. 
In  1793  they  received  legal  recognition  for  the  first  time,  and 
by  statutes  of  1819  and  1829  they  were  accorded  official 
approval,  with  a  modicum  of  public  regulation.  Laws  of 
1875  and  1896  effected  important  changes  in  their  adminis- 
tration and  brought  them  more  directly  under  the  supervision 
of  the  state.  They  have  always  been,  however,  and  they 
remain    to-day,   purely   voluntary   organizations.     The   law 


THE   SPREAD   OF  SOCIAL  INSURANCE  273 

allows  any  seven  persons  to  form  a  society,  and  this  society 
is  authorized,  in  addition  to  other  things,  to  raise  funds  by 
contributions  of  members  and  their  dependents  in  sickness, 
invalidity,  old  age,  widowhood,  or  minority.  Societies  are 
left  largely  free  to  manage  their  own  affairs,  and  in  neither 
structure  nor  procedure  do  they  exhibit  much  uniformity. 
In  no  country  has  this  kind  of  insurance  agency  been  devel- 
oped upon  a  scale  more  elaborate.  In  1904  the  number  of 
friendly  societies  in  the  kingdom  was  nearly  28,000,  and  in 
an  aggregate  of  15,000,000  working-people  upwards  of 
4.500,000  were  identified  with  at  least  one  society.  The 
insurance  for  which  the  societies  make  provision  is  prin- 
capally  against  sickness. 

In  framing  his  sickness  insurance  proposals  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  advised  constantly  with  the  annually  elected  execu- 
tive and  parliamentary  standing  committee  of  the  National 
Conference  of  Friendly  Societies,  and  in  the  final  working 
out  of  arrangements  care  was  taken,  as  was  done  in  Germany 
in  1883,  to  utilize  in  so  far  as  possible  sickness  benefit  agencies 
already  existing.  The  essential  features  of  the  system  es- 
tablished can  be  stated  briefly.  Insurance  against  sickness 
and  disability  is  made  compulsory  for  all  wage-earners 
between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty-five,  save  such  as  can 
prove  an  income  of  as  much  as  £26  or  more  a  year  from  prop- 
erty. Insurance  is  administered  under  the  direction  of  the 
state  and  through  the  medium  of  "approved  societies." 
These  societies  may  be  preexisting  friendly  societies,  or 
they  may  be  bodies  of  persons,  corporate  or  incorporate, 
registered  under  act  of  Parliament,  established  by  royal 
charter,  or  simply  approved  by  the  proper  insurance  com- 
missioners. In  any  case  they  must  not  be  conducted  for 
profit,  they  must  give  ample  security  against  the  malver- 
sation of  funds,  and  they  must  maintain  rules  and  regulations 
acceptable  to  the  insurance  commissioners.  No  person  may 
be  insured  in  more  than  one  society  at  a  time. 

T 


274    SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

In  Germany  the  state  makes  no  contribution  to  sickness 
insurance  funds.  The  entire  cost  falls  upon  the  employer 
and  the  employe,  in  the  proportion  of  one-third  and  two- 
thirds  respectively.  In  Great  Britain  the  worker  pays  \d. 
a  week  if  a  man,  3d.  if  a  woman ;  the  employer  pays  3d. 
for  each  employe ;  and  the  state  contributes  2d.  If,  however, 
the  weekly  wage  is  under  155.,  the  employer  pays  propor- 
tionally more.  If  the  wage  does  not  exceed  95.  a  week,  the 
employe  pays  nothing,  while  the  employer  pays  yd.  for  the 
insurance  of  each  male  employe,  6d.  for  that  of  each  female. 
In  general,  the  worker  pays  for  insurance  not  more  than 
half  as  much  as  the  German  laborer  pays.  Not  only  that; 
the  triple  source  of  funds  renders  possible  the  paying  of 
benefits  considerably  larger  than  those  which  prevail  in 
Germany.  Benefits  in  all  cases  include  free  medical  attend- 
ance, and  they  are  to  be  made  to  include  free  treatment  in 
sanitoria  to  be  provided  by  the  state  from  special  funds. 
For  persons  between  the  ages  of  twenty -one  and  fifty  the  cash 
benefit  amounts,  in  the  case  of  men,  to  tos.  a  week,  and  in 
the  case  of  women  to  7s.  6d.,  during  the  first  twenty-six 
weeks  of  sickness,  and  thereafter,  for  both  men  and  women, 
55.  Persons  less  than  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  those 
beyond  fifty  are  provided  for  in  accordance  with  special 
rates.  Through  the  agency  of  local  health  committees  to 
be  established  in  every  county  and  county  borough,  much 
remedial  and  constructive  work  in  behalf  of  the  national 
health  is  required  to  be  undertaken.  The  total  number  of 
persons  insured  under  the  terms  of  the  act  approximates 
14,000,000,  and  the  estimated  cost  to  the  state  during  the 
first  year  of  operation  (beginning  May,  191 2)  is  no  less  than 
£7,385,000. 

A  problem  whose  seriousness  is  coming  more  and  more  to 
be  recognized  in  the  United  Kingdom  is  that  of  unemploy- 
ment. It  is  the  estimate  of  competent  statisticians  that  the 
army  of  the  able-bodied  unemployed  in  the  British  Isles 


THE  SPREAD  OF  SOCIAL  INSURANCE      275 

numbers  all  the  time  from  150,000  to  300,000.  That  in  a 
population  which  is  highly  industrial  there  must  always  be 
a  certain  amount  of  unemployment  is  commonly  recognized, 
but  in  contemporary  Britain  both  the  number  of  the  unem- 
ployed and  the  distress  which  arises  from  lack  of  work  have 
become  such  as  to  occasion  grave  apprehension.  Until 
comparatively  recently  the  only  public  measures  utilized 
to  meet  the  situation  were  the  extension  of  poor  relief  and 
the  occasional  establishment  of  "distress  works"  by  means 
of  which  labor  is  provided  by  the  public  authorities  in  return 
for  food,  lodging,  and  a  cash  pittance.  In  1905  the  Con- 
servative Government  of  Mr.  Balfour  carried  an  Unem- 
ployed Workmen  Act  by  whose  terms  the  Local  Government 
Board  was  empowered  to  establish  "distress  commissions" 
in  the  larger  cities  and  towns  and  to  cooperate  with  the  local 
authorities  in  the  finding  of  employment  for  the  idle,  the 
government  bearing  one-half  of  the  cost  and  the  local  com- 
munities the  remainder.  By  1910  the  provisions  of  this 
measure  were  extended  to  75  municipalities  and  14  towns; 
but  by  common  admission  only  the  fringe  of  the  problem  had 
been  touched. 

When,  in  February,  1909,  the  Poor  Law  Commission 
brought  forth  its  memorable  reports,  majority  and  minority 
agreed  that  the  poor  law  as  it  to-day  stands  is  totally  inade- 
quate to  correct  the  evils  of  worklessness.  Ordinary  charity, 
furthermore,  was  pronounced  of  dubious  value,  and  the  reports 
concurred  in  advocating  very  heartily  the  establishment 
of  a  system  of  labor  exchanges  on  the  model  of  the  labor 
bureaus  of  Germany.  By  the  minority  of  the  commission 
it  was  declared  that  while  the  labor  exchange  of  itself  would 
not  prove  an  adequate  remedy,  its  establishment  was  the 
" indispensable  condition  of  any  real  reform."  The  minority 
further  put  itself  upon  record  in  favor  of  a  previously  sug- 
gested project  to  the  effect  that  the  government  should 
adopt  a  ten-year  programme  of  capital  grants-in-aid,  setting 


276    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

aside  £4,000,000  a  year  throughout  a  decade  to  be  used  in 
periods  of  depression  to  supply  labor  for  men  who  should 
be  in  need  of  it;  the  idea  being  that  this  labor  should  be 
provided  by  the  undertaking  of  great  public  works,  such  as 
land  reclamation,  afforestation,  and  harbor  improvement. 

To  the  present  time  the  Poor  Law  Commission's  reports 
have  received  but  scant  attention  in  Parliament.  But 
during  the  summer  of  1909  the  recommendation  respecting 
unemployment  upon  which  majority  and  minority  of  the 
commission  were  most  conspicuously  agreed  was  carried 
into  effect  by  parliamentary  legislation,  and  the  meagre 
agencies  established  by  the  act  of  1905  were  replaced  by  a 
broadly  national  scheme  of  unemployment  amelioration. 
Delegates  sent  by  the  Labor  party  to  study  the  German 
labor  bureau  system  urged  that  the  essentials  of  that  system 
be  reproduced  in  Great  Britain,  and  the  principles  involved 
in  the  maintenance  of  publicly  controlled  exchanges  were 
approved  unreservedly  by  the  National  Conference  of  Trade- 
Union  Delegates,  the  Central  Unemployed  Body  for  London, 
and  numerous  other  organizations  and  semi-official  agencies. 
The  Labor  Exchanges  Act  was  introduced  May  19,  1909, 
by  Winston  Churchill,  at  that  time  President  of  the  Board 
of  Trade.  Under  its  terms  the  whole  of  the  United  King- 
dom was  divided  into  eleven  districts,  in  charge  of  each  of 
which  was  placed  an  inspector,  and  provision  was  made  that 
in  all  of  the  more  important  urban  centres  there  should  be 
established  labor  exchanges  whose  function  should  be  the 
supplying  of  workers  with  employment  information  and,  in 
general,  the  promotion  of  the  mobility  of  labor.  The  ultimate 
number  of  these  exchanges  was  placed  at  350.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  191 2  there  were  in  operation  224.  They  are  of  three 
grades,  differing  according  to  the  population  of  the  towns  in 
which  they  are  located.  From  the  outset  their  success  was 
beyond  question.  During  the  first  six  months  of  191 1  the 
number   of   positions   secured   for   applicants  was  261,802. 


THE   SPREAD   OF  SOCIAL  INSURANCE  277 

Like  the  German  labor  bureaus,  the  British  exchanges  are 
intended  primarily  to  bring  employer  and  workingman 
together,  leaving  the  two  to  effect  terms  as  they  may  be  able ; 
but  the  exchange  may  extend  to  the  workingman  the  loan  of 
such  funds  as  may  be  necessary  to  enable  him  to  travel  to 
the  place  where  he  is  to  be  engaged.  Being  maintained  by 
the  state,  the  British  exchanges  are  more  closely  coordinated 
than  are  the  German  bureaus.  Despite  the  provincial  organi- 
zations that  have  sprung  up  in  Germany,  the  bureaus  are 
still  essentially  municipal.  Registration  in  Great  Britain, 
as  in  Germany,  is  voluntary ;  but  it  is  not  unlikely  eventually 
to  be  made  compulsory. 

When  the  Labor  Exchanges  Act  was  introduced,  it  was 
announced  by  the  government  that  the  measure  was  intended 
to  be  but  preliminary  to  the  inauguration  of  a  scheme  of 
unemployment  insurance.  Several  possible  forms  of  such 
insurance  were  given  careful  consideration.  By  some 
persons  it  was  proposed  merely  that  the  state  subsidize 
existing  trade-unions  which  grant  unemployment  allowances. 
This  plan  was  deemed  inadequate  because  not  all  trade- 
unions  grant  such  allowances,  and  because  by  such  a  method 
the  considerable  body  of  laborers  outside  trade-unions  would 
not  be  reached.  Of  the  adult  males  of  working  age  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  not  more  than  1,500,000  as  trade-unionists 
are  entitled  to  unemployment  benefits.  The  thing  to  do, 
it  was  decided,  was  to  establish  a  system  of  direct  unemploy- 
ment insurance.  Recognizing  that  it  was  neither  desirable 
nor  financially  possible  to  set  up  at  a  stroke  an  insurance 
scheme  that  would  be  universal,  the  framers  of  the  project 
were  compelled  to  choose  between  insuring  some  workmen  in 
ail  trades  or  all  workmen  in  some.  In  the  one  instance, 
insurance  would  be  voluntary,  in  the  other  compulsory. 
Choice  fell  upon  the  second  plan,  and  for  the  experiment 
there  were  selected  two  important  groups  of  trades  which 
experience  shows  to  be  most  affected  by  periods  of  industrial 


278    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

depression.  One  of  these  is  the  building  group,  comprising 
a  total  of  1,321,000  laborers;  the  other  is  the  engineering 
group,  comprising  1,100,000. 

An  elaborate  measure  extending  to  this  body  of  2,421,000 
workingmen  compulsory  unemployment  insurance  comprised 
Part  II  of  the  great  National  Insurance  Act  introduced  by 
Mr.  Lloyd  George,  May  4,  191 1,  and  enacted  into  law  eight 
months  subsequently.  In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  this 
measure,  all  laborers  above  the  age  of  eighteen  engaged  in 
the  trades  stipulated  are  required  to  be  insured  against  un- 
employment. The  system  is  supported  by  joint  contributions 
of  employers  and  employes,  aided  by  state  subventions. 
The  workman  pays  2\d.  a  week,  the  employer  2\&.  for  each 
person  employed,  and  the  state  \\d.  Employers,  however, 
who  hire  laborers  by  the  year  are  required  to  contribute  less 
than  half  of  the  amount  named.  The  benefit  provided  is 
75.  a  week  through  a  maximum  period  of  fifteen  weeks  of 
unemployment.  Each  employe  keeps  a  little  insurance  book 
in  which  insurance  stamps  are  affixed  by  the  employer  and 
by  the  state.  When  he  falls  out  of  employment,  he  takes 
his  book  to  the  nearest  exchange  and  claims  his  benefit. 
No  benefit,  however,  is  due  if  lack  of  work  is  occasioned  by 
participation  in  a  strike  or  lockout,  by  dismissal  for  miscon- 
duct, or  by  voluntary  act  of  the  employe  without  good  cause. 
At  the  age  of  sixty  (fifty-five  if  retiring  at  that  time  from  his 
trade)  every  insured  person  who  has  contributed  during  as 
many  as  500  weeks  is  entitled  to  the  return  of  all  contribu- 
tions which  he  has  paid  in,  with  compound  interest  at  2\  per 
cent,  less  any  amount  he  may  have  received  in  benefits. 
The  adoption  of  this  important  scheme  was  accomplished 
without  serious  opposition,  and  it  has  been  generally  under- 
stood that  the  success  of  the  experiment  will  mean  as  rapid 
an  extension  of  unemployment  insurance  to  other  trades  as 
may  be  practicable.  Already  in  this  matter  Great  Britain 
has  gone  much  further  than  has  Germany,  for  it  will  be  re- 


THE  SPREAD  OF  SOCIAL  INSURANCE      279 

called  that  in  Germany  the  state  does  not  yet  insure  against 
unemployment  at  all. 

Aside  from  Germany  and  Great  Britain,  the  industrial 
insurance  idea  has  taken  firmer  hold  in  France  than  in  any 
other  of  the  larger  European  countries.  In  France,  as 
elsewhere,  insurance  was  at  one  time  partial,  haphazard,  and 
wholly  voluntary.  Under  the  stimulus  of  German  and 
English  examples,  however,  supplemented  by  unsatisfactory 
trials  of  unregulated  insurance  schemes,  France  is  fast  moving 
toward  the  adoption  of  a  thoroughgoing  system  of  com- 
pulsory insurance,  and  notable  portions  of  such  a  system  have 
already  been  put  in  operation.  By  laws  of  1834,  1850,  and 
1852,  public  regulations  were  imposed  upon  a  large  body  of 
voluntary  mutual  sickness  societies  by  which  the  guilds, 
abolished  during  the  Revolution,  had  very  generally  been 
replaced.  In  1898  the  existing  types  of  societies  were  re- 
duced to  two  —  the  "free"  and  the  "approved"  —  and  all 
were  brought  under  the  closer  supervision  of  the  government. 
Their  by-laws  must  be  submitted  to  the  proper  public  author- 
ities, and  they  may  undertake  only  such  forms  of  insurance 
as  are  authorized  by  law.  The  total  number  of  societies, 
including  those  for  children,  rose  between  1898  and  1908 
from  11,825  to  20,200.  The  aggregate  membership  in  1898 
was  1,909,469;  in  1904,  3,488,418;  and  in  1907  it  was  esti- 
mated at  4,680,000.  The  principal  function  of  these  societies 
is  that  of  making  provision  for  sick  benefits,  sometimes 
supplemented  by  other  forms  of  benefit.  Employers  con- 
tribute as  a  rule  only  when  a  society  is  organized  in  connec- 
tion with  a  particular  establishment.  The  requisite  funds 
are  supplied  in  the  main  by  a  monthly  contribution  on  the 
part  of  the  members,  ordinarily  one  franc,  but  more  if,  in 
addition  to  the  head  of  the  family,  the  wife  or  children  are 
insured.  Nearly  all  societies  carry  on  their  rolls  "patrons," 
or  honorary  members,  who  may  be  depended  upon  for  con- 
siderable contributions,  and  to  the  majority  the  state  allows 


280    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

a  small  subsidy.  In  respect  to  all  classes  of  workingmen  save 
two,  sickness  insurance  is  still  voluntary,  being  contingent 
upon  membership  in  a  mutual  society.  The  exceptions  are 
miners  and  seamen,  for  whose  protection  the  law  has  estab- 
lished a  system  of  compulsory  insurance  supported  by  both 
employers  and  employes. 

Accident  insurance  is  likewise  voluntary,  though  extremely 
common.  Under  the  Employers'  Liability  and  Workmen's 
Compensation  Act  of  April  9,  1898,  and  its  amendments, 
employers  are  held  liable  for  all  occupational  accidents  which 
befall  their  employes,  and  even  fewer  loopholes  are  left  by 
which  the  burden  of  liability  may  be  evaded  than  in  the  case 
of  the  corresponding  law  of  Great  Britain.  The  statute  of 
1898  represents  a  compromise  between  the  two  houses  of  the 
French  legislature,  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  favoring  and 
the  Senate  opposing  a  scheme  of  universal  and  compulsory  in- 
surance. The  original  statute  applied  to  workmen  in  all  indus- 
trial establishments  and  provided  compensation  for  all  injuries 
lasting  more  than  four  days.  By  amendments  of  1899  and 
1906  the  application  of  the  law  was  extended  to  workmen 
using  agricultural  machines  driven  by  mechanical  power 
and  to  employes  of  mercantile  establishments.  Since  1868 
there  has  been  maintained  a  government  accident  insurance 
department  —  the  Caisse  Nationale  (T  Assurance  en  Cas 
d 'Accidents  —  in  which  employers  who  apply  are  insured 
against  their  liability  for  accidents;  and  all  companies  and 
societies  which  undertake  employers'  liability  insurance  are 
supervised  by  the  government  and  required  to  give  adequate 
security.  No  employers,  except  mine  operators  and  ship- 
owners, are  required  to  insure,  but  all  are  actively  encouraged 
to  do  so.  It  is  estimated  that  something  like  70  per  cent 
of  all  workingmen  entitled  to  compensation  under  existing 
law  are  protected  by  insurance  policies  taken  out  by  their 
employers. 

Very  recently  France  has  become  one  of  the  several  Euro- 


THE   SPREAD   OF   SOCIAL  INSURANCE  281 

pean  countries  in  which  wage-earners  are  required  to  insure 
against  old  age.  From  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century 
there  have  existed  in  France  a  number  of  agencies  for  the 
provision  of  old-age  annuities,  the  most  important  being  two 
departments  of  state,  the  Caisse  des  Depots  et  Consignations, 
established  in  1856,  and  the  Caisse  Nationale  des  Retraites 
pour  la  Vieillesse,  dating  originally  from  1850  but  reorganized 
in  1886.  The  first  is  a  great  national  bank  which  seeks  to 
impart  special  encouragement  to  thrift  by  the  payment  of 
high  rates  of  interest  upon  savings  deposits;  the  second  is 
strictly  an  insurance  department  in  which  both  immediate 
and  deferred  life  annuities  are  sold  at  unusually  low  rates. 
Between  1884  and  1906  the  number  of  deposits  in  the  Caisse 
Nationale  des  Retraites  rose  from  597,438  to  4,247,344,  deposi- 
tors being  not  simply  individuals  (both  adults  and  children) 
but  also  friendly  societies  and  corporations.  In  1895  the 
state  began  in  a  small  way  the  assumption  of  the  burden  of 
old-age  pensions  by  introducing  a  system  under  which  per- 
sons seventy  years  of  age  and  upwards,  who  during  a  stipu- 
lated period  had  been  depositors  in  the  Caisse  Nationale  were 
made  entitled  to  an  increment  of  their  annuities  to  be  paid 
from  the  national  treasury. 

July  14,  1905,  a  law  was  passed  by  which  it  was  made  the 
obligation  of  the  state,  on  and  after  January  1,  1907,  to  pen- 
sion all  French  citizens  over  the  age  of  seventy,  as  well  as  all 
who  before  attaining  that  age  should  be  wholly  and  perma- 
nently disabled  by  accident  or  disease.  This  law,  in  other 
words,  established  at  the  same  time  universal  old-age  pensions 
and  universal  invalidity  pensions  for  citizens  who  are  inca- 
pable of  providing  by  their  labor  for  the  necessaries  of  then- 
own  existence.  The  amount  of  the  pension  to  be  paid  varies, 
according  to  the  recipient's  circumstances,  from  60  to  240 
francs.  The  scheme  is  non-contributory  and  is  confined  to 
the  necessitous  poor.  The  burden  entailed  upon  the  state 
(100,000,000  francs  a  year)  proved  heavy,  but  rapidly  the 


282    SOCIAL  PROGRESS    IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

conviction  grew  that  the  provision  which  had  been  made 
ought  to  be  supplemented  by  a  system  of  universal  and  com- 
pulsory old-age  and  invalidity  insurance.  As  early  as  1906 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  passed  an  elaborate  measure  pro- 
viding, from  funds  contributed  jointly  by  employes,  employers, 
and  the  state,  pensions  for  all  industrial,  commercial,  and 
agricultural  workers  upon  attainment  of  the  age  of  sixty. 
By  reason  of  the  prospective  cost  of  the  proposed  scheme  the 
measure  was  rejected  by  the  Senate.  But  in  1909  a  modified 
draft  was  submitted  to  the  Senate,  and  April  6, 1910,  the  Old 
Age  Pensions  Act,  many  times  amended,  became  law. 

The  system  adopted  bears  a  close  resemblance  to  that  in 
operation  in  Germany.  The  voluntary  old-age  pension 
arrangements  heretofore  existing  are  continued,  but  they 
are  subordinated  to  a  new  and  ambitious  scheme  of  insurance 
that  is  in  part  voluntary  and  in  part  compulsory.  The  law 
applies  to  laborers  and  employes  of  both  sexes  in  all  industries, 
in  commerce,  in  agriculture,  in  the  liberal  professions,  and 
in  domestic  service.  It  does  not  apply  to  miners,  seamen,  and 
railway  employes,  who  have  their  own  essentially  compulsory 
systems.  But  the  number  of  people  expected  to  be  reached 
by  the  new  measure  is  18,000,000,  in  a  total  of  20,000,000 
engaged  in  all  kinds  of  occupations.  Of  this  number,  one- 
third,  including  farmers,  small  proprietors,  and  the  self- 
employed,  are  not  required  to  insure,  though  they  are  ex- 
tended every  inducement  to  do  so.  But  for  some  12,000,000 
workingmen  and  working-women  whose  annual  earnings  fall 
below  3000  francs  insurance  is  compulsory.  The  French 
system,  like  the  German  and  the  Belgian,  but  unlike  the 
English,  is  contributory.  All  persons  coming  within  the 
scope  of  the  compulsory  features  of  the  law  are  required  to 
make  contributions,  which  must  be  duplicated  by  the  em- 
ployer, at  the  rate  of  9  francs  a  year  for  men,  6  francs  for 
women,  and  4!  francs  for  workers  under  18  years  of  age. 
Each  insured  person  obtains  from  the  government  a  card  on 


THE   SPREAD   OF  SOCIAL  INSURANCE  283 

which  the  payments  of  employers  and  employes  are  recorded 
by  means  of  stamps  bought  from  the  government  or  the  au- 
thorized societies  or  savings-banks.  The  size  of  the  annuity 
depends  upon  the  amount  of  premiums  paid.  Pensions 
become  due  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  and  to  each  annuity  paid 
to  a  person  beyond  that  age  the  state  adds  60  francs  a  year, 
provided  as  many  as  thirty  annual  payments  have  been  made. 
A  pension  can  be  claimed  by  any  qualified  person  at  the  age 
of  fifty-five,  but  subject  to  a  proportionate  reduction  of  the 
state  allowance.  The  government  has  pledged  ultimately 
to  reduce  the  pension  age  to  sixty;  also  to  introduce  at  an 
early  date  a  special  scheme  of  insurance  against  invalidity. 

In  point  of  time  the  first  among  the  nations  to  follow  the 
example  of  Germany  in  establishing  a  system  of  compulsory 
workingmen's  insurance  was  Austria.  An  accident  insurance 
law  was  passed  by  the  Austrian  parliament  December  28, 
1887,  and  was  followed  March  30,  1888,  by  a  measure  pro- 
viding insurance  against  sickness.  Prior  to  1887  there  was 
no  guarantee  of  compensation  for  occupational  accidents 
save  such  as  was  extended  by  the  meagre  common  law  liability 
of  employers  and,  in  the  case  of  railway  employes,  by  an 
act  of  March  5,  1869,  making  employers  in  the  railway  in- 
dustry liable  for  accidents  not  due  to  unavoidable  causes  or 
to  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  workmen  themselves.  The 
act  of  1887  followed  in  general  the  German  model,  though 
with  some  administrative  differences,  the  organization  of 
the  funds  being  not  by  industries  but  by  geographical  areas. 
The  original  measure  extended  to  workingmen  and  super- 
vising employes  in  factories,  foundries,  mines,  wharves, 
quarries,  building  trades,  and  all  industrial  operations  in 
which  machines  or  explosive  substances  are  used;  and  by 
revision  of  July  20,  1894,  it  was  made  to  cover  workingmen 
engaged  in  railway  and  other  transportation,  fire  protection, 
street  cleaning,  and  a  variety  of  other  pursuits,  leaving 
unprotected  only  farm  laborers  (except  such  as  use  motor 


284    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

machinery),  foresters,  and  persons  engaged  in  small  industries 
in  which  machinery  is  not  utilized.  Compensation  is  gradu- 
ated, as  in  Germany,  but  runs  somewhat  lower  than  in  that 
country.  In  the  event  of  complete  disability  the  pension 
allowed  is  60  per  cent  of  the  wages  received ;  if  the  disability 
be  but  partial,  the  allowance  is  correspondingly  reduced. 
In  Germany  the  workmen  do  not  participate  in  the  expenses 
of  accident  insurance,  but  in  Austria,  while  the  cost  is  borne 
nominally  by  the  employers,  a  maximum  of  10  per  cent 
may  be  deducted  on  this  account  from  the  laborer's  wages. 
In  1906  the  number  of  persons  covered  by  accident  insurance 
was  2,918,679.  If  the  quota  seems  small,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  Austria  is  by  no  means  the  industrial  country 
that  Germany  is,  and  that  far  the  larger  part  of  her  10,000,000 
wage-earners  are  employed  in  agriculture.  It  is  interesting 
to  observe  that  in  1906  21.1  per  cent  of  the  insured  were 
women. 

The  Austrian  sickness  insurance  law  of  1888  was  inspired 
by  the  example  of  Germany,  coupled  with  the  recognized  in- 
adequacy of  the  guild  sickness  associations,  mutual  societies, 
and  other  heterogeneous  sickness  insurance  agencies  pre- 
viously existing.  As  in  Germany,  use  was  made  of  these 
earlier  organizations,  and  there  are  in  effect  eight  distinct 
types  of  societies  to-day  in  operation.  For  employes  in  all 
branches  of  industry,  trade,  and  transportation,  insurance 
is  compulsory;  for  those  in  other  pursuits,  including  agri- 
culture and  forestry,  it  is  optional.  In  six  of  the  eight  groups 
of  societies  contributions  of  workmen  and  employers  are 
fixed,  as  in  Germany,  at  two-thirds  and  one-third  respectively ; 
in  the  other  two  employers  contribute  only  voluntarily  or  as 
required  by  special  statute.  The  benefits  extended  are 
slightly  larger  than  in  Germany,  the  principal  difference 
being  that  whereas  in  Germany  the  minimum  sickness  allow- 
ance is  50  per  cent  of  the  wages  received,  in  Austria  it  is 
60  per  cent.    The  number  of  sickness  insurance  societies 


THE   SPREAD   OF  SOCIAL  INSURANCE  285 

in  1906  was  2917,  and  the  number  of  persons  insured  was 
2,946,668,  of  whom  22.6  per  cent  were  women.  During 
several  years  past  there  has  been  under  consideration  in 
Austria  a  project  involving  a  general  overhauling  and  exten- 
sion of  the  national  insurance  system.  December  9,  1904, 
the  government  presented  to  the  legislative  chambers  a 
Program  for  the  Reform  and  Development  of  Workingmen's 
Insurance,  comprising  a  series  of  measures  by  which  it  was 
proposed  that  the  several  laws  at  present  in  force  should  be 
replaced.  Much  labor  has  been  expended  in  working  out  the 
details  of  the  scheme,  and  final  action  has  not  yet  been  taken. 
Features  of  the  reform  which  are  fairly  agreed  upon  include, 
however,  such  an  extension  of  sickness  insurance  as  will 
bring  up  the  number  of  the  insured  to  5,200,000  persons, 
such  provisions  as  will  render  accident  insurance  more  effec- 
tive in  those  industries,  especially  mining,  attended  with  the 
greatest  risks,  and  the  establishment  for  the  first  time  of  a 
comprehensive  scheme  of  old-age  and  invalidity  insurance, 
patterned  upon  that  of  Germany.1 

Among  the  nations  of  northern  Europe  the  spread  of  social 
insurance  within  the  past  decade  has  been  rapid.  Especially 
noteworthy  are  the  results  that  have  been  attained  in  Bel- 
gium. Public  encouragement  of  workingmen's  insurance 
in  Belgium  began  in  185 1  with  the  enactment  of  a  measure, 
modelled  on  a  French  law  of  the  previous  year,  extending 
to  friendly  relief  societies  the  advantages  of  official  recogni- 
tion. Other  acts  to  stimulate  the  formation  of  such  societies 
were  passed  in  1861  and  1887.  The  law  at  present  covering 
the  subject  was  passed  June  23,  1894.  It  made  provision 
for  the  first  time  for  a  state  subvention  in  aid  of  sickness 
insurance  organizations.  Of  "registered"  societies,  which 
alone  are  entitled  to  share  in  this  subvention,  there  were,  in 
1907,  3300,  with  an  aggregate  membership  of  400,000.     Of 

1  There  is  at  present  no  old-age  and  invalidity  insurance  in  Austria,  save  that 
provided  in  1854  for  miners  and  in  1906  for  clerks  and  other  office  employes. 


286    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

unregistered  societies,  which  are  independent  in  their  manage- 
ment and  receive  no  public  aid,  there  were  at  the  same  time 
about  800,  with  a  membership  of  50,000.  In  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  wage-earners  of  Belgium  number  not  fewer  than 
1,200,000,  it  is  apparent  that  there  is  yet  large  room  for  sick- 
ness insurance  extension.  Since  1868  miners  have  been 
subject  to  compulsory  insurance  against  accidents  through 
special  sickness  insurance  associations  to  whose  funds  em- 
ployers and  employes  both  contribute  and  the  state  and  the 
provincial  governments  allow  subsidies.  December  24, 1903, 
there  was  enacted  a  modern  employers'  liability  law  whose 
provisions  were  made  applicable  to  workmen  in  all  industries, 
including  manufactures,  trade,  and  agriculture,  and  to  appren- 
tices and  foremen  whose  annual  earnings  amount  to  less  than 
2400  francs.  In  many  quarters  there  was  demand  for  a 
thoroughgoing  compulsory  accident  insurance  schema,  to  be 
supported  by  employers  and  employes.  Such  a  plan  failed 
to  be  adopted,  but  under  closely  regulated  conditions  em- 
ployers are  held  pecuniarily  liable  for  all  accidents  which  take 
place  in  their  employ,  save  such  as  can  be  shown  to  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  negligence  of  employes.  The  maxi- 
mum of  compensation  is  one-half  of  the  wages  received. 

One  of  the  principal  services  which  the  state  has  rendered 
the  workingman  in  Belgium  is  the  creation  of  the  present  sys- 
tem of  insurance  against  invalidity  and  old  age.  In  1850 
there  was  established  by  law  a  State  Annuity  Fund  (Caisse 
Generate  d'Epargne  et  de  Retraite)  into  which  any  person  over 
18  years  of  age  might  make  payments  for  himself  or  others, 
thus  procuring  insurance  for  an  immediate  or  a  deferred  life 
annuity.  In  1865  the  operation  of  the  scheme  was  extended, 
and  in  1869  the  maximum  amount  of  the  annuity  was  fixed 
(where  it  remains)  at  1200  francs.  In  1891  the  government 
began  the  granting  of  bounties  in  aid  of  annuities,  and  by 
an  important  law  of  May  10,  1900,  amended  in  1903,  the 
principle  of  state  subvention  was  definitely  established,  and 


THE   SPREAD   OF  SOCIAL  INSURANCE  287 

for  special  appropriations  from  year  to  year  was  substituted 
a  definite  and  permanent  state  subscription.  The  object 
of  the  act  of  1900  was  to  encourage  thrift  among  the  working- 
classes  and  to  contribute  in  their  behalf  a  fund  from  which 
the  workingman,  upon  attaining  the  age  of  sixty-five,  may 
derive  an  annuity  reaching  a  maximum  of  360  francs,  and,  in 
the  second  place,  to  assure  to  workingmen  or  working- women 
special  grants  of  65  francs  a  year  when  they  are  in  need.  To 
each  franc  which  the  worker  lays  by  the  government  adds 
three-fifths  of  a  franc,  so  that  the  individual  who  lays  by 
15  francs  will  possess  at  the  end  of  the  year  24  francs.  In 
other  words,  the  state  subscription  to  payments  into  the 
Annuity  Fund  amounts  to  60  per  cent  of  the  workingman's 
deposits,  up  to  15  francs  a  year.  When  the  deposits  are 
larger,  the  government  contribution  is  proportionally  smaller. 
When  the  depositor  has  to  his  credit  a  fund  sufficient  to  con- 
stitute for  him  an  annuity  of  360  francs,  premiums  from  the 
state  cease  entirely.  Toward  the  expenses  of  this  system 
the  provinces  and  many  communes  make  grants,  and  the 
national  budget  carries  an  appropriation  of  15,000,000  francs 
annually.     The  number  of  deposits  in  1906  was  2,224,727. 

In  Holland  sickness  insurance  is  left  to  be  administered 
exclusively  by  some  700  mutual  societies,  some  of  which  are 
large,  but  most  of  which  comprise  simply  the  workingmen 
of  a  single  locality  or  of  a  single  trade  within  that  locality. 
In  1904  a  bill  providing  compulsory  sickness  insurance  for 
workers  receiving  a  wage  of  less  than  1200  guilders  ($480) 
a  year  was  introduced  by  the  government,  but  in  1905  a 
change  of  ministries  caused  it  to  be  dropped.  In  1906  a  new 
measure  on  the  subject  was  presented,  but  it  likewise  was 
withdrawn.  Through  two  decades  there  has  been  under 
discussion  in  Holland  the  problem  of  state  provision  for 
insurance  against  invalidity  and  old  age.  Commissions 
have  brought  in  reports  and  bills  have  been  framed,  but  no 
conclusive   action  has   been   taken.    The   most   important 


288    SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

measure  of  the  kind  which  has  been  considered  recently  is 
a  project  presented  in  1907  for  old-age  and  widows'  insurance, 
stipulating  compulsory  insurance  of  workers  16  years  of  age 
and  receiving  a  wage  of  less  than  1000  guilders  a  year.  State 
provision  for  insurance  against  unemployment  has  also  been 
agitated,  though  in  Holland,  as  in  Belgium,  unemployment 
insurance  is  as  yet  administered  through  the  trade-unions, 
subsidized  for  the  purpose  by  the  municipalities.  On  the 
side  of  accident  insurance  prolonged  effort  at  legislation  has 
achieved  excellent  results.  As  early  as  1894  a  royal  com- 
mission recommended  a  plan  for  obligatory  accident  insur- 
ance at  the  expense  of  employers.  A  bill  based  upon  this 
recommendation  was  withdrawn  in  consequence  of  a  change 
of  cabinets,  and  a  second  measure,  presented  in  1898,  was 
defeated.  A  bill  submitted  in  1900,  however,  was  passed 
January  2,  1901.  By  it  was  established  compulsory  accident 
insurance  in  virtually  all  branches  of  industry.  The  benefits 
for  which  provision  is  made  are  unusually  ample.  They 
comprise  free  medical  attendance  and  an  allowance,  in  the 
case  both  of  temporary  and  of  permanent  disability,  of 
70  per  cent  of  the  wages,  with  a  maximum  annuity  for  the 
laborer's  family  of  60  per  cent  in  the  event  of  his  death. 

The  progress  of  social  insurance  in  the  Scandinavian 
countries  has  been  noteworthy.  In  Denmark  there  was 
established  by  law  of  April  8,  1891,  a  thoroughgoing  old-age 
pension  system  based  on  the  principle  that  every  person 
over  sixty  years  of  age,  whose  income  is  not  in  excess  of  a 
stipulated  amount,  and  who  during  a  period  of  ten  years 
(changed  in  1908  to  five)  shall  not  have  been  in  receipt  of 
poor  relief,  shall  be  entitled  to  a  pension,  to  be  paid  from 
funds  raised  by  general  taxation.  In  1905-06  the  number  of 
pensioners  was  50,000,  the  average  amount  of  pensions  was 
152  crowns  ($41),  and  the  aggregate  outlay  was  7,600,000 
crowns.  Sickness  insurance  in  Denmark  is  regulated  by  a 
law  of  April  12,  1892,  by  which  official  recognition,  accom- 


THE   SPREAD   OF  SOCIAL   INSURANCE  289 

panied  by  a  state  subsidy,  is  granted  to  hundreds  of  regis- 
tered mutual  societies,1  and  accident  insurance  is  provided 
under  a  statute  of  January  7,  1898,  by  which  the  principle 
of  employers'  liability  and  workingmen's  compensation  was 
extended  to  industries  of  all  kinds,  exclusive  of  agriculture, 
though  insurance  is  left  entirely  at  the  employer's  option. 
In  Norway  a  commission  was  appointed  in  1885  to  investi- 
gate the  subject  of  workingmen's  insurance  in  all  of  its  aspects. 
In  1890  a  bill  was  presented  providing  for  compulsory  in- 
surance against  both  sickness  and  accident,  but  the  resulting 
measure,  put  in  effect  July  1,  1895,  applied  only  to  accidents. 
Under  its  terms  all  workingmen  engaged  in  manufacturing 
are  required  to  be  insured  by  their  employers  in  the  insurance 
department  of  the  state.  A  second  compulsory  sickness 
insurance  bill,  presented  by  a  commission  appointed  in  1900, 
failed  to  become  law.  But  a  measure  presented  in  1908  by 
a  new  commission  was  enacted  September  18,  1909.  By  it 
obligatory  sickness  insurance  is  established  for  agricultural 
as  well  as  industrial  workers.  The  commission  advocated, 
further,  a  plan  for  disability  and  old-age  pensions,  but  upon 
this  portion  of  the  report  no  action  has  as  yet  been  taken. 
The  proposition  is  that  pensions  shall  be  paid,  beginning  at 
the  age  of  seventy,  to  all  aged  persons  —  irrespective  of  in- 
come, the  cost  to  fall  upon  the  communes,  the  state,  and 
the  insured. 

In  Sweden  workingmen's  insurance  was  first  seriously 
investigated  by  a  commission  appointed  in  1884.  A  bill  in 
1888  providing  obligatory  accident  insurance  of  the  German 
type  was  rejected,  as  also  were  two  others  presented  during 
the  ensuing  decade.  In  1901,  however,  there  was  passed  an 
employers'  liability  measure  in  accordance  with  which  the 
employer  may  or  may  not  insure,  but  must  in  any  event 
indemnify  his  employe  in  case  of  accident  not  due  to  the 

1  Fifteen  hundred  in  1907,  with  a  membership  of  514,000,  or  upwards  of 
30  per  cent  of  the  adult  population. 
u 


290    SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

employe's  negligence  or  wilful  act.  The  state  does  not 
maintain  directly  a  system  of  sickness  insurance,  but  under 
act  of  1 89 1  it  recognizes,  exempts  from  taxation,  and 
subsidizes  some  2300  sickness  benefit  societies  which  are 
required  merely  to  fulfil  certain  simple  conditions.  There 
is  likewise  no  state  provision  for  invalidity  and  old-age 
insurance,  though  the  subject  has  long  been  agitated  and 
numerous  measures  relating  to  it  have  been  discussed  and 
rejected.  The  problem  is  at  present  under  consideration 
by  a  new  commission,  and  it  is  significant  that,  as  in  Norway, 
the  government  has  been  accumulating  through  several 
years  a  fund  which  can  be  made  the  basis  of  an  elaborate 
old-age  pension  system. 

Workingmen's  insurance  has  been  developed  less  systemati- 
cally in  Switzerland  than  in  some  other  countries,  but  the 
results  attained  are  considerable,  and  plans  are  in  hand  for 
a  coordination  and  extension  of  existing  insurance  institu- 
tions which  will  constitute  an  important  step  in  advance. 
By  a  series  of  measures  beginning  in  1875  the  principle  of 
employers'  liability  was  extended  to  successive  industries 
and  trades.  June  28,  1898,  there  was  presented  a  bill  which 
proposed  to  establish  for  the  entire  country  a  unified  system 
in  accordance  with  which  all  workmen  should  be  subject  to 
compulsory  accident  insurance  at  the  expense  of  their  em- 
ployers, and  all  should  be  required  to  carry  insurance  against 
sickness.  The  bill  was  passed  by  the  Federal  Assembly, 
October  5,  1899,  but  by  reason  of  its  interference  with  exist- 
ing sickness  insurance  societies  it  was  rejected  by  the  people 
through  the  medium  of  the  referendum.  After  a  period  of 
delay  there  was  presented,  December  10,  1906,  a  new  bill 
by  which  accident  insurance  is  made  compulsory,  but  in- 
surance against  sickness  continues  voluntary.  The  measure 
was  adopted  by  the  legislative  chambers  June  13,  191 1,  and 
early  in  191 2  it  was  referred  to  the  people  and  was  ratified. 
There  is  in  Switzerland  no  federal  old-age  insurance  system, 


THE   SPREAD    OF   SOCIAL   INSURANCE  291 

but  old-age  annuity  devices  are  in  operation  in  several  of  the 
individual  cantons. 

The  achievement  of  Italy  within  the  domain  of  social 
insurance  has  been  more  notable  than  that  of  any  other 
Mediterranean  country.  In  Italy,  as  in  France  and  England, 
sickness  insurance  is  administered  through  the  agency  of 
mutual  societies  which  provide,  as  a  rule,  not  only  sick  benefits, 
but  also  accident,  old-age,  and  funeral  benefits.  In  1886 
these  organizations  were  first  accorded  recognition  by  the 
state,  and  since  that  date  societies  which  are  registered 
possess  corporate  powers  and  in  some  instances  receive 
subsidies  from  the  national  treasury.  In  1905  the  number 
of  societies  was  6535 ;  that  of  members,  approximately 
1,000,000.  The  societies  are  generally  very  small,  and 
the  benefits  conferred  are  meagre.  The  requisite  funds 
are  supplied  by  monthly  premiums,  which,  as  a  rule,  are 
uniform  for  all  members.  In  1883  the  growth  of  Italian  in- 
dustrialism prompted  the  establishment  of  a  National  Acci- 
dent Insurance  Fund,  an  institution  comducted,  with  the 
authorization  of  the  government,  by  ten  of  the  country's 
most  important  savings-banks.  Insurance  through  this 
agency  was  made  easy  and  cheap,  but  was  not  made  obli- 
gatory upon  either  employer  or  employe.  The  number  of 
policies  taken  out  continued  very  small,1  and  in  1898  there 
was  passed  an  important  statute  by  which  insurance  against 
industrial  accidents  is  made  compulsory  at  the  expense  of 
employers.  In  1903  the  scope  of  this  measure  was  broadened, 
and  to-day  the  Italian  workingmen's  compensation  system 
is  one  of  the  best  ordered  in  Europe.  In  1898,  likewise, 
there  was  enacted  an  invalidity  and  old-age  insurance  law 
which  marked  the  culmination  of  twenty  years  of  discussion. 
The  law  set  up  a  National  Old  Age  and  Invalidity  Fund 
with  headquarters  at  the  capital  and  branches  throughout 
the  country,  in  which  working-people  are  invited  to  deposit 
1  In  1897  the  total  was  but  4311,  covering  162,855  workmen. 


292     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

their  savings.  These  deposits,  supplemented  by  govern- 
ment subventions  and  private  and  corporate  contributions, 
afford  the  basis  upon  which  old-age  annuities  may  be  procured, 
beginning  according  to  arrangements  at  the  ages  of  fifty, 
sixty,  or  sixty-five.  In  1907  the  number  of  persons  insured 
was  255,127  and  the  fund  amounted  to  approximately 
62,000,000  lire  ($12,400,000).  Contributions  are  received 
in  sums  as  small  as  one-half  lire  (10  cents)  and  may  not 
exceed  100  lire  annually. 


CHAPTER  XDC 

THE   ORGANIZATION   OF   LABOR 

The  revolution  in  industry  which  took  place  in  Great 
Britain  between  1760  and  1825  and  on  the  continent  between 
1825  and  i860  had  the  fundamental  effect  of  differentiating 
for  the  first  time  capital  and  labor  and  of  developing  or 
accentuating  sharp  antagonisms  between  the  two.  The 
Middle  Ages  and  earlier  modern  times  were  by  no  means 
without  labor  problems  and  labor  movements,  but  not  until 
the  appearance  of  the  factory  system  can  there  be  said  to 
have  arisen  either  that  intensity  of  economic  stress  or  that 
sharpness  of  class  conflict  which  have  been  among  the  less 
agreeable  aspects  of  the  past  hundred  years.  Stimulated 
by  closeness  of  contact  of  large  bodies  of  workingmen  in  the 
industrial  centres,  and  impelled  by  low  wages,  high  prices, 
long  hours,  and  other  disadvantageous  conditions,  labor 
began  many  decades  ago  to  acquire  a  community  of  feeling 
and  to  attempt  by  concerted  action  to  induce  or  compel 
amelioration,  and  long  before  the  nineteenth  century  had 
drawn  to  a  close  the  working-classes  of  most  European 
countries  had  been  welded  together  as  under  earlier  systems 
of  labor  they  never  had  been.  Throughout  upwards  of  a 
century  the  lot  of  the  working-classes  has  been  improved 
from  time  to  time  by  the  enactment  of  remedial  legislation 
and  by  other  exercise  of  the  public  powers.  '  Labor,  however, 
has  relied  by  no  means  solely  upon  this  resource.  It  has 
organized  to  advocate  state  action,  to  negotiate  with  or- 
ganized capital,  and  to  procure  the  conservation  of  its  own 
energies.  Many  agencies  have  been  devised  whereby  it 
seeks  to  defend  and  propagate  its  interests.    The  most   im- 

393 


294    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

portant  is  the  trade-union.  A  second  is  the  political  party. 
A  third  of  some  significance  is  cooperative  production  and 
distribution  of  goods. 

The  trade-union  is  a  distinctly  modern  institution.  It  is 
essentially  unlike  the  mediaeval  guild,  because,  among  other 
things,  the  guild  was  an  organization  of  craftsmen  who  were 
at  the  same  time  employers  and  workmen.  There  were  in 
England  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  certain 
combinations  of  journeymen,  i.e.,  laborers  who  had  served 
their  apprenticeship  and  were  working  for  wages  without 
yet  being  eligible  to  set  up  shops  of  their  own;  but  these 
organizations  were  ephemeral,  and  not  until  near  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century  does  it  appear  that  there  were  in  any 
country  durable  associations  of  wage-earners  in  particular 
trades,  having  for  their  purpose  the  protection  of  their 
peculiar  interests  and  the  advancement  of  their  economic 
status.  Beginning  with  the  Devonshire  woollen  workers  in 
1700,  many  groups  of  English  artisans  through  the  eighteenth 
century  formed  local  organizations,  and  Adam  Smith  tells 
us  that  in  his  day  people  of  the  same  trade  seldom  met, 
even  for  diversion,  but  "the  conversation  ends  in  a  con- 
spiracy against  the  public  or  in  some  contrivance  to  raise 
prices." 1  All  such  combinations  were  contrary  both  to 
the  common  law  and  to  statute,2  and  the  state  repeatedly 
took  measures  to  repress  them.  But,  more  or  less  un- 
obtrusively, they  continued  to  spring  up  and  to  flourish. 

The  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  especially 
fruitful  in  labor  combinations,  first  among  the  workers  out- 
side, later  among  those  inside,  the  factory.  In  1787  the 
Sheffield  metal  workers  organized,  in  1792  the  Lancashire 
hand-loom  weavers,  in  1 795  the  paper-makers  of  Kent,  and 
in  1796  the  woollen  workers  of  Yorkshire.  Frightened  by 
the  aspect  of  the  revolution  in  France  and  by  the  growing 

1  "Wealth  of  Nations,"  Bk.  I.,  chap.  10. 

1  Notably  the  Elizabethan  Statute  of  Apprentices,  enacted  in  1562. 


THE   ORGANIZATION  OF   LABOR  295 

assertiveness  of  the  English  industrial  classes,  Parliament 
in  1799  passed  a  sweeping  statute  designed  to  strengthen 
existing  anti-conspiracy  legislation.  The  law  prohibited 
absolutely  any  sort  of  combination  to  raise  wages,  to  obtain 
shorter  hours,  or  to  dictate  the  employment  or  non-employ- 
ment of  workers.  It  remained  unaltered  until  1824;  but, 
despite  all  effort  to  enforce  it,  unions  of  workingmen  not 
only  existed  but  increased  in  number  and  influence.  Public 
repression  produced  effects  quite  the  opposite  of  those  in- 
tended, precisely  as  has  a  similar  policy  in  Germany  in  respect 
to  socialism.  In  1824  the  laws  against  combination  were 
repealed,  although  in  the  following  year  certain  measures 
of  restriction  were  reimposed.  With  1824,  however,  came 
to  an  end  the  first  and  formative  period  in  the  history  of 
trade-unionism  in  England  —  the  period  of  struggle  for 
legal  recognition. 

The  according,  in  1824-25,  of  partial  protection  to  as- 
sociations existing  for  the  purpose  of  raising  wages  and 
regulating  the  hours  of  labor  led  to  a  rapid  multiplication 
of  trade-unions,  and  in  time  to  a  series  of  efforts  to  build 
up  some  sort  of  national  labor  organization.  The  "Grand 
National  Consolidated  Trades  Union"  of  1834,  claiming 
a  membership  of  half  a  million,  broke  up,  however,  within  a 
few  months  after  its  formation,  and  all  other  attempts  at 
national  organization  failed  utterly,  except  in  two  or  three 
specific  trades.  A  prolonged  series  of  strikes  during  the 
thirties  reacted  unfavorably  upon  the  laboring  classes,  and 
with  the  rise  of  Owenite  socialism  and  of  Chartism  trade- 
unionism  was  for  a  time  eclipsed.  The  next  important 
period  in  English  trade-union  history  extends  roughly  from 
1842  to  1880.  It  was  marked  by  a  general  revival  of  union- 
ism, the  amalgamation  of  local  societies  to  form  national 
organizations  of  particular  trades,  the  development  of 
friendly  as  well  as  trade  benefits,  the  inauguration  of  trade- 
union  congresses,  and,  until  late  in  the  period,  a  general 


296    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

abstention  from  —  not  infrequently  positive  opposition  to 
—  the  employment  of  political  methods.  Important  among 
the  great  labor  organizations  whose  beginnings  fall  within 
this  period  are  the  Miners'  Association  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  (184 1),  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers 
(1850),  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Operative  Cotton 
Spinners  (1853),  the  Yorkshire  Miners'  Association  (1858), 
the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Tailors  (1866),  the  Durham 
Miners'  Association  (1869),  and  the  National  Union  of  Boot 
and  Shoe  Operatives  (1874).  It  is  worth  observing,  too, 
that  in  1845  there  was  established  a  National  Association 
of  United  Trades  for  the  Protection  of  Labor  which  con- 
trived to  endure  through  a  period  of  fifteen  years. 

As  early  as  1848  there  was  established  at  Liverpool  a 
"trade  council,"  or  federation  of  the  local  branches  of  the 
various  unions  existing  in  the  city,  and  during  the  next 
twenty  years  a  similar  step  was  taken  in  substantially  all 
important  industrial  centres  throughout  the  kingdom. 
From  these  trade  councils  sprang  the  annual  trade-union 
congresses  of  Great  Britain  to-day.  The  first  of  the  annual 
meetings  ot  the  British  "parliament  of  labor"  was  held  at 
Manchester  in  1868,  and  since  1870  they  have  been  con- 
tinued uninterruptedly.  A  series  of  outrages  at  Sheffield 
and  Manchester  in  1865-66,  in  which  officials  of  some 
local  trade  organizations  were  implicated,  led  to  the  creation 
in  1867  of  a  royal  commission  to  investigate  "the  organiza- 
tion and  rules  of  trade  societies."  Following  the  report  of 
this  commission  in  1869,  there  was  enacted  a  series  of  measures 
in  1871,  1875,  and  1876,  whereby,  as  it  proved,  the  legal 
position  of  trade-unions  was  governed  until  the  passage  of 
the  amending  act  of  1906.  The  last  remnant  of  penal  legis- 
lation restricting  the  freedom  of  association  was  now  swept 
away.  No  person  thereafter  might  be  prosecuted  for  con- 
spiracy to  commit  an  act  which  would  not  be  illegal  if  com- 
mitted by  him  singly,  and  the  purposes  of  a  trade-union  were 


THE   ORGANIZATION  OF   LABOR  297 

not  to  be  deemed  unlawful  simply  because  they  might  be 
shown  to  be  in  restraint  of  trade.  By  the  measures  of  1824- 
1825  workingmen  had  been  conceded  the  right  to  combine; 
but  until  187 1  all  combinations  in  restraint  of  trade  (and 
most  trade-unions  were  such)  were  regarded  as  illegal. 

After  1880  British  trade-unionism  entered  gradually  upon 
a  new  phase.  The  new  unionism  was  the  product  in  part 
of  socialist  influence,  strongly  exerted  after  1882,  and  in 
part  of  the  conviction  that  the  time  had  come  for  active 
resort  to  political  methods.  As  early  as  1868  two  candi- 
dates sought  seats  in  Parliament  as  representatives  of  labor, 
and  at  the  elections  of  1874  there  were  no  fewer  than  thirteen 
labor  candidates,  two  of  whom  were  successful.  Great 
industrial  upheavals  of  later  years,  notably  the  strike  of  the 
London  dock  laborers  in  1889,  together  with  the  rise  of  new 
organizations  composed  of  unskilled  labor  and  pronouncedly 
infected  with  socialism,  created  strong  demand  for  the 
positive  interference  of  the  state  for  the  improvement  of 
labor  conditions  and  led  eventually  to  the  creation  of  the 
Independent  Labor  Party  in  1893.  Throughout  the  past 
two  decades  the  dominating  purpose  of  trade-unionism  in 
Great  Britain  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  acquisition  of 
sufficient  power  in  Parliament  to  compel  the  enactment 
of  desired  remedial  and  preventive  legislation.  The  aim  of 
the  Independent  Labor  Party,  as  set  forth  in  the  constitution 
and  rules  of  the  organization,  is  essentially  socialistic,  namely, 
the  establishment  of  collective  ownership  and  control  of 
the  means  of  production,  distribution,  and  exchange;  and  the 
working  programme  of  the  party  as  originally  announced 
includes  (1)  a  universal  eight-hour  day,  (2)  the  abolition  of 
overtime,  piece-work,  and  the  employment  of  children 
under  fourteen,  (3)  state  provision  for  the  ill,  the  invalid, 
and  the  aged,  (4)  free  non-sectarian  education  of  all  grades, 
(5)  the  taxation  of  unearned  incomes  until  they  shall  be 
extinguished,   and    (6)    disarmament.    To   this   programme 


298    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

has  been  added  woman's  suffrage,  a  second  ballot  in  parlia- 
mentary elections,  municipal  control  of  various  industries, 
and  a  number  of  other  proposed  innovations.  At  the  elec- 
tions of  1895  the  party  named  twenty -eight  candidates,  but 
no  one  of  them  was  successful,  and  Kier  Hardie,  its  president, 
lost  the  seat  which  he  had  occupied  since  1892.  In  1900 
it  attained,  in  the  reelection  of  Hardie,  its  first  parliamentary 
victory,  and  in  1906,  when  the  tide  of  radicalism  was  running 
high,  seven  of  its  candidates  and  sixteen  of  its  members  were 
elected  to  the  House  of  Commons. 

The  Independent  Labor  Party  has  been  throughout  its 
history  avowedly  socialistic.  It  has  sought  and  obtained 
the  adherence  of  thousands  of  laboring  men,  some  of  whom 
are,  and  some  of  whom  are  not,  socialists.  But  its  character 
is  too  radical  to  attract  the  mass  of  trade-union  members, 
and  alongside  of  it  there  has  grown  up  a  larger  and  broader 
organization  known  simply  as  the  Labor  Party.  The  trade- 
union  congress  of  1899  caused  to  be  brought  into  existence 
a  body  of  representatives  of  all  cooperative,  trade-union, 
socialist,  and  working-class  organizations  which  were  willing 
to  share  in  an  effort  to  increase  the  representation  of  labor 
in  Parliament.  This  body  held  its  first  meeting  at  London 
in  February,  1900.  The  Social  Democratic  Federation 
(socialist)  withdrew  from  the  enterprise,  but  an  organiza- 
tion was  formed  in  which  the  ruling  forces  were  the  polit- 
ically inclined  but  non-socialistic  trade-unions.  The  object 
of  the  affiliation  was  declared  to  be  "to  establish  a  distinct 
labor  group  in  Parliament,  who  shall  have  their  own  whips, 
and  agree  upon  their  own  policy,  which  must  embrace  a 
readiness  to  cooperate  with  any  party  which  for  the  time 
being  may  be  engaged  in  promoting  legislation  in  the  direct 
interest  of  labor."  The  growth  of  the  organization  was 
rapid,  and  in  1906  the  name  which  had  been  employed,  i.e., 
Labor  Representation  Committee,  gave  place  to  that  of 
Labor  Party.    At  the  elections  of  1906  twenty-nine  of  the 


THE   ORGANIZATION  OF   LABOR  299 

fifty-one  candidates  of  this  party  were  elected  to  the  House 
of  Commons.  Taking  into  account  eleven  members  con- 
nected with  miners'  organizations  and  fourteen  others  who 
were  Independent  Laborites  or  Liberal  Laborites  ("Lib.- 
Labs"),  the  parliament  chosen  in  1906  contained  a  labor 
contingent  aggregating  fifty- four  members.  Since  1908 
there  has  been  in  progress  a  consolidation  of  the  labor  forces 
represented  at  Westminster,  and  although  at  the  elections 
of  1909  and  1910  some  seats  were  lost,  there  are  in  the  House 
of  Commons  to-day  forty-two  representatives  of  labor. 
About  half  of  them  belong  to  the  Independent  Labor  Party 
or  other  socialist  organizations.  The  group  is  independent 
of,  but  friendly  toward,  the  Liberal  government;  and  since 
the  Liberals  are  constantly  in  need  of  the  Laborites'  support, 
the  legislative  power  of  the  group  is  very  considerable. 

The  progress  of  British  trade-unionism  within  recent 
years,  while  not  unattended  by  set-backs,  has  been  enormous. 
To  supplement  the  activities  of  the  annual  Trade  Union 
Congress  and  of  its  parliamentary  committee,  and  especially 
to  place  organized  labor  in  a  position  to  wage  industrial  war, 
if  need  be,  with  the  employing  classes,  there  was  created  in 
1899  a  General  Federation  of  Trade  Unions.  This  organiza- 
tion is  affiliated  with  similar  federations  in  continental 
countries.  Between  1898  and  the  end  of  1909  the  number 
of  trade-unions  in  the  United  Kingdom  was  reduced,  through 
process  of  consolidation,  from  1287  to  11 53.  Within  the 
same  period  the  total  membership  was  increased  from  1,688,- 
531  to  2,347,461.  Twice  since  1900  trade-unions  have  been 
made  to  feel  the  weight  of  adverse  judicial  decisions  in  matters 
of  serious  import,  but  in  both  instances  the  embarrassment 
occasioned  was  largely  alleviated  by  subsequent  legislation. 
In  1901  the  House  of  Lords,  in  the  noted  Taff  Vale  case, 
held  that  the  members  of  a  trade-union  are  liable,  singly  and 
collectively,  for  acts  committed  under  the  auspices  of  the 
union.     The  Taff  Vale  Railway  Company  had  been  awarded 


300    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

by  an  inferior  court  £323,000  damages  against  the  Amal- 
gamated Society  of  Railway  Servants  for  persuading  and 
intimidating  workmen  to  break  their  contracts  with  the 
railway  and  aiding  and  abetting  acts  of  violence  whereby 
railway  property  was  damaged,  and  on  appeal  the  House 
of  Lords  sustained  the  verdict.  The  unions,  which  had 
always  claimed  that  they  could  not  be  sued,  professed  to 
regard  the  decision  as  a  virtual  annulment  of  the  status 
granted  them  by  the  legislation  of  1871.  Announcement 
of  the  decision  was  followed  by  much  agitation,  and  although 
a  parliamentary  commission  reported  in  favor  of  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Taff  Vale  principle,  a  Trade  Disputes  Act  of 
1906  extended  to  the  funds  of  trade-unions  ample  protection 
and  largely  conceded  the  claims  of  the  unionists.  This 
act,  likewise,  extended  liberty  in  the  matter  of  "picketing." 
The  Lords  passed  the  measure,  though  with  very  great 
reluctance. 

A  second  extremely  important  judicial  decision  affecting 
trade-unions  was  the  Osborne  Judgment  of  December  21, 
1909.  This  decision  arose  out  of  an  action  brought  against 
the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Railway  Servants  by  a  secretary 
of  a  local  branch,  the  object  of  which  was  to  show  that  the 
rule  of  the  organization  which  compelled  a  member  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  maintenance  of  a  parliamentary  representative 
belonging  to  the  Labor  party  was  not  enforceable.  In  the 
first  tribunal  the  decision  was  against  the  plaintiff,  but  in 
the  court  of  appeal,  and  eventually  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
the  lower  ruling  was  reversed.  The  effect  of  the  Osborne 
Judgment  was  to  render  it  illegal  for  trade-unions  to  employ 
in  the  maintenance  of  members  of  Parliament  funds  derived 
from  dues  or  other  contributions  which  were  obligatory. 
In  view  of  the  rapidly  growing  legislative  activities  of  the 
unions  in  recent  years,  the  consequences  of  the  decision 
threatened  to  be  serious.  Agitation  in  behalf  of  relief  legis- 
lation was  set  on  foot,  and  already  the  disadvantage  imposed 


THE   ORGANIZATION  OF  LABOR  301 

upon  the  parliamentary  representatives  of  labor  has  been 
overcome  in  part  through  the  provision  of  pay  for  all  members 
of  the  House  of  Commons  at  the  rate  of  £400  a  year.  The 
Osborne  Judgment  does  not,  it  should  be  observed,  pre- 
clude the  support  of  labor  members  from  funds  raised  by 
trade-unionists,  if  only  subscriptions  be  voluntary. 

Trade-unionism  is  older  and  has  assumed  distinctly  larger 
importance  in  English-speaking  parts  of  the  world  than 
elsewhere,  yet  in  substantially  all  continental  countries  the 
principle  has  taken  hold,  and  in  some  the  organization  of 
labor  has  attained  a  high  degree  of  elaborateness.  It  may 
be  said  that,  with  some  exceptions,  the  trade-unionism  of  the 
continent  is  modelled  upon  that  of  Great  Britain.  Until 
recently,  at  least,  it  was,  as  a  rule,  more  pronouncedly  polit- 
ical than  was  the  British,  but  the  emphasis  which  in  recent 
years  has  been  placed  upon  the  political  aspect  of  British 
trade-unionism  has  tended  to  minimize  this  earlier  element 
of  differentiation. 

In  Germany  trade-unions  are  of  three  principal  kinds: 
(1)  Gewerkschaften,  or  Social  Democratic  trade-unions;  (2) 
Gewerkvereine,  or  non-political  unions;  and  (3)  Christliche 
Gewerkvereine,  or  Christian  trade-unions.  The  guilds  of 
the  mediaeval  type  were  abolished  throughout  Germany 
at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  in  time  they 
were  replaced  by  workingmen's  organizations  (Innungen), 
representing  liberalized  adaptations  of  the  guild  principle 
and  actively  encouraged  by  the  governmental  authorities. 
Trade-unions  proper  date  from  1868.  The  earliest  of  them 
were  planned  by  a  congress  held  at  Berlin,  in  the  year  men- 
tioned, under  the  leadership  of  two  enthusiastic  disciples 
of  Lassalle,  Fritscher  and  Schweitzer.  These  unions  were 
intimately  connected  with  the  Social  Democratic  party,  and 
in  1878  the  majority  of  them  were  dissolved  under  the  op- 
eration of  Bismarck's  law  against  socialist  organizations. 
Under  the  name  of  Fachvereine,  however,  most  of  them  were 


302    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

reconstructed ;  and,  while  abstaining  ostensibly  from  politics, 
they  contrived  very  effectually  to  fulfil  the  purposes  of  the 
original  organizations.  In  1887,  after  the  lifting  of  the 
Socialist  ban,  a  general  committee  of  the  Gewerkschaften  was 
set  up,  and  three  years  later  there  was  created  a  General 
Commission  of  German  Trade  Unions.  The  membership 
of  the  Gewerkschaften  increased  from  419,162  in  1897  to 
743,296  in  1902  and  1,886,147  in  1907.  The  majority  of 
the  unions  are  organized  not  merely  for  the  purpose  of  safe- 
guarding the  interests  of  labor  and  promoting  the  cause  of 
the  Social  Democracy,  but  for  the  administration  of  sick- 
ness, unemployment,  and  other  forms  of  insurance.  The 
second  type  of  German  trade-union,  the  non-political,  origi- 
nated also  in  1868.  The  earliest  unions  of  this  kind  were 
founded  by  Hirsch  and  Duncker  and  were  modelled  directly 
upon  the  unions  of  Great  Britain.  Not  infrequently  they  are 
referred  to  as  Hirsch-Duncker  unions.  Since  1876  Social 
Democrats  have  been  excluded  from  their  membership. 
Their  growth  has  not  been  rapid,  and  they  are  in  effect  little 
more  than  benefit  societies.  In  1907  their  aggregate  mem- 
bership was  108,889.  The  first  Christian  trade-unions  were 
established  in  1894  in  protest  against  the  materialism  and 
the  socialistic  tenets  of  the  Gewerkschaften.  The  growth  of 
this  group  has  been  substantial.  In  1907  the  aggregate 
membership  was  354,760.  In  general,  the  Gewerkschaften 
are  strongest  in  the  building,  metal,  shipbuilding,  and  wood- 
working trades ;  the  Gewerkvereine  in  the  metal  and  engineer- 
ing trades;  and  the  Christliche  Gewerkvereine,  in  the  trans- 
portation and  mining  industries.  Within  the  past  five  years 
the  German  unions  of  all  types  have  more  than  doubled  in 
membership,  their  aggregate  numerical  strength  falling 
to-day  not  far  short  of  three  millions. 

In  France  the  guild  system  was  abolished  and  combina- 
tions of  workmen,  as  well  as  of  employers,  were  prohibited 
by  laws  of  June   14  and  September   28,   1789.    Napoleon 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF   LABOR  303 

projected  a  network  of  compulsory  organizations  of  employers 
and  employes,  with  the  employers  in  control,  but  the  plan 
was  never  carried  fully  into  operation.  During  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century  workingmen's  unions  of  various 
sorts  came  into  existence,  but  all  were  contrary  to  the  Penal 
Code  until,  in  1864,  the  law  upon  the  subject  was  somewhat 
relaxed.  In  1884  there  was  enacted  a  momentous  piece  of 
legislation  by  which  the  law  was  further  modified  and  com- 
plete freedom  of  association  was  established  in  respect  to  all 
industrial  organizations  (syndicats),  whether  of  employers 
or  of  employes.  The  growth  of  trade-unions  since  1884  has 
been  rapid.  In  1890  there  were  1006  unions,  with  139,678 
members;  in  1906,  5322  unions  with  896,012  members. 
The  unions  are  strongest  in  Paris,  Lyons,  Marseilles,  and  other 
industrial  centres.     Practically  all  are  avowedly  socialistic. 

The  Austrian  Industrial  Code  of  1859  sought  to  compel 
the  organization  of  employers  and  employes  in  common 
guilds,  but  the  attempt  was  no  more  successful  than  was  the 
similar  one  of  Napoleon  half  a  century  earlier  in  France. 
In  1869  an  uprising  of  workingmen  in  Vienna  won  from  the 
government  a  limited  right  of  independent  industrial  com- 
bination, and  thereafter  socialistic  trade-unionism  gradually 
acquired  a  permanent  footing.  The  unions  which  have  been 
formed  during  the  past  twenty-five  years  resemble  closely 
the  Gewerkschaften  of  Germany.  The  principal  centers  of 
Austrian  trade-unionism  are  the  industrial  and  populous 
districts  of  Moravia,  Bohemia,  and  Lower  Austria.  The 
highest  degree  of  organization  has  been  attained  in  the  print- 
ing trade  and  in  the  textile  and  metal  industries.  In  1907 
there  were  49  central  unions,  77  district  unions,  5030  local 
unions,  and  501,094  members.  Trade-unionism  is  growing 
in  Hungary,  but  in  1907  the  membership  of  unions  affiliated 
in  the  central  federation  was  but  130,192. 

In  Switzerland  social  and  industrial  conditions  are  such 
that  there  has  been  less  occasion  for  the  close  organization 


304    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

of  labor  than  in  most  other  countries.  Factory  workers 
very  generally  own  or  occupy  plots  of  ground  and  combine 
with  industry  a  certain  amount  of  agriculture.  The  con- 
trasts of  wealth  and  poverty  are  less  apparent  than  elsewhere, 
and  the  tension  between  capital  and  labor  is  distinctly  less 
pronounced.  The  federation,  the  cantons,  and  the  munici- 
palities have  developed  systems  of  public  ownership  and 
operation  so  extensive  that  a  very  considerable  proportion 
of  workers  occupy  the  position  of  joint-manager  as  well  as 
that  of  employe.  The  oldest  and  most  important  of  Swiss 
labor  organizations  is  the  Griiltiverein,  organized  in  1838 
at  Geneva.  It  to-day  maintains  numerous  branches  through- 
out the  country;  but  its  efforts  are  directed  more  largely 
toward  political  and  socialistic  than  toward  purely  in- 
dustrial ends.  The  present  Swiss  Social  Democratic  party 
was  founded  in  1888,  and  in  this  organization  the  Griilti- 
verein is  at  present  largely  merged.  In  1907  the  Swiss  unions 
claimed  a  membership  of  50,000  members,  besides  some 
30,000  not  affiliated  in  the  central  organization. 

Trade-unionism  in  Italy  is  all  but  inseparable  from  socialism. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  unions,  those  in  which  are  organized 
the  workers  in  a  particular  trade  and  those  composed  of 
the  workingmen  in  all  trades  within  a  town.  The  former 
concern  themselves  chiefly  with  trade  disputes,  the  latter 
with  general  questions  affecting  the  welfare  of  the  laboring 
classes,  such  as  insurance,  cooperation,  education,  and 
factory  legislation.  All  are  affiliated  under  a  central  agency 
of  control  located  at  Milan.  At  the  beginning  of  1908  there 
was  a  total  of  2550  unions  and  of  191,599  members.  Or- 
ganizations of  agricultural  laborers,  which  in  Italy  have 
attained  larger  importance  than  in  any  other  country, 
contained  at  the  same  time  273,698  members. 

In  the  Scandinavian  countries  trade-unions  are  numerous 
and  compactly  organized.  All,  however,  are  substantially 
socialist  societies.    In  Holland  a  National  Labor  Secretariat 


THE  ORGANIZATION   OF   LABOR  305 

was  formed  in  1893,  and  the  growth  of  unionism  was  for  a 
time  rapid.  After  the  general  strike  of  1903  many  unions 
collapsed,  and  the  vitality  of  those  which  survived  sank  to 
a  low  ebb,  but  in  recent  years  the  task  of  organization  has 
been  resumed  with  vigor.  Under  law  of  1898  trade-unions 
can  be  incorporated  in  Belgium  only  on  condition  that  their 
objects  are  non-political,  and  they  are  restricted  to  the  further- 
ance of  the  interests  of  particular  trades.  In  point  of  fact, 
however,  the  numerous  unions  that  exist  are  associated  almost 
without  exception  with  the  Socialist-Labor,  Catholic,  or 
Liberal  parties,  principally  with  the  first-mentioned. 

An  interesting  phase  of  labor  enterprise  within  the  past 
three-quarters  of  a  century  has  been  the  growth  of  the  cpr 
operative  movement.  Impelled  by  the  waste  of  competi- 
tion, the  profits  derived  by  middlemen,  and  the  excessive 
cost  of  commodities,  working-people  in  a  number  of  coun- 
tries have  been  influenced  in  recent  generations  to  enter 
into  combination  for  the  purchase  or  the  manufacture  of 
products  for  their  own  use  and  to  be  sold  to  them  directly. 
The  cooperative  principle  was  first  carried  into  successful 
execution  in  Great  Britain,  and  to  this  day  that  country 
leads  all  others  in  the  magnitude  of  its  cooperative  organiza- 
tions. The  parent  cooperative  enterprise  in  Great  Britain 
was  that  undertaken  in  1844  by  the  Rochdale  Equitable 
Pioneer's  Society.  Attracted  by  the  cooperative  principles 
of  Robert  Owen,  a  group  of  twenty-eight  weavers  of  the 
town  of  Rochdale,  in  the  year  mentioned,  subscribed  three 
pence  a  week  to  a  common  fund  and  began  the  purchase  of 
sugar  and  flour  at  wholesale,  eliminating  entirely  the  cus- 
tomary profits  of  the  retailer.  As  the  venture  succeeded  its 
scope  was  broadened,  until  in  1902  the  Rochdale  Society 
had  a  membership  of  13,000  and  a  business  of  £292,000, 
upon  which  there  was  a  net  profit  of  £46,000.  Members 
gain  admission  by  the  payment  of  a  nominal  fee,  and  the 
association  has  become  in  effect  a  vast  company  which  owns 
x 


306    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

buildings  and  grounds,  employs  buyers  and  clerks,  and 
conducts  a  general  mercantile  business,  the  profits  being 
distributed  from  time  to  time  among  the  members  in  accord- 
ance with  the  amount  of  monthly  purchases  made  by  each. 
Under  the  stimulus  of  this  enterprise  the  cooperative  move- 
ment has  spread  throughout  the  British  Isles,  taking  the 
form  not  alone  of  the  purchase  and  distribution  of  goods, 
but  also  of  the  manufacturing  of  commodities,  and  even  of 
banking.  There  are  at  the  present  day  1550  cooperative 
societies,  with  an  aggregate  membership  of  2,500,000  people, 
and  a  share  capital  of  £35,000,000.  The  volume  of  trade 
which  they  handle  in  the  course  of  a  year  exceeds  £110,000,- 
000,  and  the  annual  profit  arising  therefrom  is  more  than 
£12,000,000.  Local  societies  are  federated  in  great  whole- 
sale associations,  one  in  England  and  one  in  Scotland,  by 
which  commodities  are  purchased  in  bulk  for  such  of  the 
local  organizations  as  care  to  avail  themselves  of  this  service. 
The  system  has  become  so  elaborate  as  to  justify  Lord 
Rosebery's  characterization  of  it  as  "a  state  within  a  state," 
and  the  benefits  accruing  from  it  to  the  laboring  masses  of 
the  United  Kingdom  are  beyond  computation.  By  good 
fortune,  the  cooperative  movement  has  been  kept  entirely 
outside  the  sphere  of  politics. 

The  success  of  cooperation  in  Great  Britain  has  prompted 
numerous  cooperative  experiments  on  the  continent,  and 
some  of  these  have  achieved  noteworthy  results,  although, 
on  the  whole,  the  working-people  of  continental  countries 
have  exhibited  less  capacity  for  peaceful,  non-political  or- 
ganization than  have  their  British  contemporaries.  In 
France  there  are  more  than  2000  distributive  societies,  but 
in  neither  volume  nor  value  of  business  do  they  approach 
the  societies  of  Great  Britain.  They  suffer  especially  from 
lack  of  cohesion.  There  are  more  than  300  productive 
societies,  some  of  which  are  as  much  as  sixty  years  old. 
The  prosperity  of  many  of  these  is  to  be  attributed  in  part 


THE   ORGANIZATION  OF   LABOR 


307 


to  government  patronage.  There  are  also  some  3000  agri* 
cultural  societies  whose  principal  activity  is  the  maintenance 
of  cooperative  dairies.  Cooperation  in  Germany  dates 
from  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  earlier 
societies,  organized  for  the  purchase  of  raw  materials  of 
manufacture,  were  but  indifferently  successful,  but  the  later 
distributive  and  agricultural  associations  flourished  beyond 
expectation.  Cooperative  loan  banks  have  become  also 
very  numerous  and  serviceable.  In  1889  a  General  Agri- 
cultural Cooperative  Union  was  established,  and  there  is 
to-day  a  Cooperative  Wholesale  Society,  resembling  the 
British  " Wholesale."  January  1,  1905,  there  were  in  the 
Empire  23,221  cooperative  societies  of  all  types,  with  an 
aggregate  membership  of  3,409,871.  Of  the  number, 
14,272  were  "credit,"  i.e.,  loan,  societies;  3062,  agricultural 
productive  societies,  and  1806,  associations  for  the  purchase 
of  raw  materials. 

Cooperative  distributive  societies  of  the  British  type 
were  developed  in  Switzerland  at  an  earlier  date  than  in  any 
other  continental  country,  and  the  cooperative  principle, 
in  production,  distribution,  and  banking,  is  applied  in  that 
country  to-day  upon  a  very  extended  scale.  The  number 
of  cooperative  societies  is  approximately  4500.  In  Belgium, 
Holland,  Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden  cooperation  is 
widely  practised.  In  Italy,  Austria-Hungary,  Spain,  and 
even  Russia,  it  is  firmly  intrenched.  There  is,  indeed,  no 
country  of  Europe  in  which  the  cooperative  movement  has 
not  attained  considerable  proportions.  The  results  are  by 
no  means  confined  to  the  lessening  of  expenditures,  the  in- 
crease of  savings,  and  the  amelioration  of  conditions  of  liveli- 
hood. The  sense  of  social  solidarity  is  perceptibly  strengthened, 
and  labor  is  brought  to  a  realization  of  the  highly  important 
fact  that  the  promotion  of  its  essential  interests  may  be 
attained  by  pacific  and  scientific  means  no  less  than  by 
aggression  and  combat. 


CHAPTER  XX 

WAGES  AND  SAVINGS 

One  of  the  achievements  for  which  the  century  which  has 
elapsed  since  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  has  been 
especially  remarkable  is  the  amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the 
laboring  man  and  of  the  classes  of  society  dependent  upon 
his  earnings.  Like  all  social  phenomena,  the  betterment 
of  labor  cannot  accurately  be  measured  quantitatively.  It 
has  been  admittedly  very  much  more  considerable  in  some 
countries  and  parts  of  countries  than  in  others,  and  the 
speed  with  which  it  has  been  realized  has  varied  enormously 
from  decade  to  decade.  Upon  the  general  proposition  that 
labor  occupies  a  more  favorable  position  to-day  than  it 
occupied  in  the  eighteenth  century  all  students  of  the  subject 
are  agreed;  but  the  point  from  which  labor  advance  began 
was  so  depressed  and  the  labor  problem  which  remains  is 
so  stupendous  that  more  enthusiastic  social  reformers  some- 
times are  led  to  underestimate  the  ground  that  has  been 
gained.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  virtually  all  of 
the  social  and  economic  progress  of  the  era  the  laborer  has 
participated.  His  legal  status  has  been  improved;  he  has 
attained  religious  freedom;  his  children  enjoy  enlarged 
opportunities  for  education ;  when  ill,  he  profits  by  the 
advance  of  medicine  and  surgery;  when  he  travels,  he  makes 
use  of  the  railway  and  the  steamship;  when  he  is  at  leisure, 
he  may  read  inexpensive  newspapers  and  books,  and  there 
are  at  his  disposal  means  of  diversion  of  which  his  ancestors 
never  dreamed.  Freedom  does  not  always  mean  agreeable 
conditions  of  living,  but  if  one  must  be  poor,  it  is  better  to 
be  poor  and  free  than  both  a  pauper  and  a  slave. 

3°8 


WAGES  AND   SAVINGS  309 

After  the  attainment  of  personal  independence,  religious 
liberty,  educational  opportunity,  and  political  influence  the 
concern  of  largest  weight  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  or- 
dinary laborer  is  his  wages ;  and  not  simply  the  rate  of  wages, 
but  the  purchasing  power  of  wages  and  the  possibility  of 
laying  by  some  portion  of  one's  yearly  earnings  as  a  resource 
upon  which  to  fall  back  in  times  of  unemployment,  illness, 
old  age,  or  other  special  stress.  During  the  past  hundred 
years  wages  have  risen  quantitatively  in  almost  every  part 
of  Europe.  The  progress  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  was 
marked  for  a  time  by  a  diminution  of  wages.  Machinery 
displaced  manual  labor;  the  employment  of  women  and 
children  was  substituted  for  that  of  men;  the  supply  of 
labor  exceeded  the  demand,  with  the  consequence  that 
labor  became  cheap  and  wages  low.  From  this  situation, 
as  has  been  pointed  out,  arose  discontent,  misery,  and  not 
infrequent  riots.  But  for  the  fact  that,  even  in  England, 
the  introduction  and  perfection  of  mechanical  devices  was 
slow,  allowing  time  for  the  re-absorption  of  surplus  labor  in 
other  fields  of  employment,  the  transition  to  the  new  order 
could  hardly  have  been  accomplished  without  a  general  social 
upheaval.  In  time,  however,  the  disadvantages  in  respect 
to  wages  disappeared.  The  increased  cheapness  of  commodi- 
ties rendered  possible  by  large-scale  production  gave  rise  to 
an  enormous  expansion  of  the  demand  for  goods,  and  with 
the  extension  of  markets  the  value  of  labor  tended  steadily 
to  be  enhanced.  The  factory  acts,  also,  by  regulating  the 
age  of  employes,  hours  of  work,  and  other  conditions  of 
industry,  reduced  the  aggregate  of  the  available  labor  supply, 
and  in  consequence  operated  to  stimulate  the  rise  of  wages 
paid.  Other  circumstances,  varying  in  nature  in  different 
times  and  places,  contributed  to  the  same  end. 

It  is  easy  to  marshal  imposing  arrays  of  statistics  showing 
the  varying  scales  of  wages  that  have  prevailed  in  individual 
fields  of  employment  within  the  past  four  or  five  generations. 


310    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

The  mere  money  paid,  however,  is  no  dependable  criterion 
of  wage  values.  Wages  are  worth  what  they  will  purchase, 
and  the  bald  statement  of  wage  rates  means  nothing  unless 
there  be  taken  into  account  with  it  both  the  prices  which 
the  wage-earner  must  pay  for  the  necessities  of  life  and  the 
standard  of  comfort  in  accordance  with  which  he  will  judge, 
and  has  a  right  to  judge,  his  conditions  of  livelihood.  There 
was,  for  example,  a  period  in  England  when  the  daily  wage  of 
the  laborer  was  but  six  pence.  A  statement  of  this  fact  is 
likely  to  produce  an  altogether  false  impression  unless  it  be 
observed  that  the  price  of  meat  in  that  period  was  only  a 
penny  a  pound,  and  other  provisions  were  proportionally 
cheap,  and  that  the  standard  of  living  was  very  much  lower 
than  it  is  to-day.  The  actual  position  of  the  worker  was 
by  no  means  as  serious  as  upon  the  surface  it  might  appear 
to  have  been.  The  rise  of  wages  during  the  past  century 
amounted  in  the  majority  of  employments  to  a  doubling 
or  even  a  tripling  of  rates.  In  England  the  agricultural 
laborer  in  1825  received  a  weekly  wage  of  hardly  "js. ;  in 
1850  he  received  gs.  6d.;  in  1870,  155. ;  and  in  1880,  lys.  6d. 
The  rates  in  France  at  the  dates  mentioned  were,  respectively. 
55.,  gs.,  125.  6d.,  and  14s.1  The  German  rates  prior  to  1850 
cannot  be  ascertained  with  accuracy,  but  in  the  year  named 
the  average  was  85.  6d. ;  in  1870,  105.  6d. ;  and  in  1880, 
125.  6d.  The  English  woollen-weaver  in  1825  received  185. 
a  week;  in  1880,  305.  The  French  weaver  at  the  same 
periods  received  125.  and  24s.  respectively.  The  average 
wage  of  spinners  throughout  Europe  in  1830-40  was  about 
85.  2 d.  a  week;  in  1850-60,  however,  it  arose  to  115.  id., 
and  in  1872  it  stood  at  155.  4^.  In  Italy  the  workingman 
received  in  1847  an  average  of  only  75.  6d.  a  week;  but  in 
1866  this  average  had  arisen  to  105.  and  in  1896,  to  12s. 
These  are  but  scattered  facts,  which  might  be  multiplied 

1  The  rates  in  the  United  States  at  corresponding  periods  were  gs.  6d.,  i6sn 
20s.,  and  255. 


WAGES  AND   SAVINGS  3U 

indefinitely.  More  important  than  the  facts  themselves  is 
the  relationship  sustained  between  the  wages  received  and 
the  prices  necessary  to  be  paid  for  food,  clothing,  and  shelter, 
and  the  relationship  of  both  of  these  to  the  standard  of  com- 
fort of  the  working-classes.  In  point  of  fact,  not  only  have 
prices  risen  considerably  during  the  past  hundred  years,  but 
the  standard  of  comfort  has  so  changed  that,  even  if  prices 
had  remained  stationary,  the  same  amount  paid  in  wages 
would  go  by  no  means  as  far  to-day  toward  the  realization 
of  the  workingman's  desires  as  a  hundred,  or  even  fifty,  years 
ago.  The  ordinary  man  to-day  expects  his  food  to  be  of 
better  quality  and  greater  variety  than  did  his  grandfather. 
He  expects  to  be  better  housed.  He  expects  to  be  better 
clothed.  He  expects  his  town  to  be  cleaner  and  more  attrac- 
tive. All  of  these  advantages  have  to  be  paid  for,  and  all 
of  them  impose,  directly  or  indirectly,  larger  demands  upon 
the  pocket-book  of  the  ordinary  citizen.  In  so  far  as  most 
European  countries  are  concerned,  statistics  sustain  observa- 
tion in  the  opinion  that  until  well  within  our  own  day  the 
increase  of  wages  has  been  ample  somewhat  more  than  to 
keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  prices  plus  the  advance  of 
standards  of  livelihood.  In  France  the  consumption  of  the 
costlier  commodities,  e.g.,  meat  and  wines,  has  undergone 
very  marked  increase.  In  Germany  the  per  capita  con- 
sumption of  meat  since  1850  has  continued  steadily  to  be 
increased,  and  the  same  thing  is  true  in  Austria,  Switzerland, 
and  even  Italy.  In  1880  an  Englishman  earning  31  shillings 
a  week  (at  that  time  a  fair  average)  spent  upon  food  about 
14  shillings,  so  that  his  sustenance  cost  less  than  half  his 
wages.  In  France  at  the  same  time  the  average  wage  was 
20  shillings  and  the  cost  of  food  was  12.  In  Germany  the 
wage  was  16  shillings,  the  cost  of  food  10.  In  Italy  the  wage 
was  15  shillings,  the  cost  of  food  9.1     Since  1880,  however, 

1  At  the  same  time  the  average  weekly  wage  in  the  United  States  was  48 
shillings,  the  cost  of  food  16. 


312     SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  increase  of  wages  has  failed,  on  the  whole,  to  keep  pace 
with  the  increase  of  the  wage-earner's  needs,  and  there  has 
arisen  a  new  aspect  of  labor  conditions  which  cannot  be 
passed  without  a  word  of  comment. 

It  is  only  within  days  comparatively  recent  that  the  people 
of  the  United  States  have  begun  to  discern  a  fact  which  to  the 
European  has  been  patent  through  several  decades,  namely, 
that  one  of  the  really  big  problems  of  the  twentieth  century 
is  going  to  be  that  created  by  the  tendency  of  prices  and 
social  needs  to  outstrip  wages.  For  during  the  past  genera- 
tion the  scale  has  tended  more  and  more  to  be  inclined 
against  the  purchaser  of  life's  necessities.  In  every  impor- 
tant country  of  Europe,  if  not  of  the  world,  there  is  an  up- 
ward trend  in  living  expenditures  which  presses  more  and 
more  relentlessly  upon  the  resources  of  the  wage-earner  and 
the  salaried  workman.  Whether  relief  is  to  come  through 
a  wiser  adjustment  of  means  to  ends  on  the  part  of  the 
individual  consumer,  or  through  the  more  or  less  forceful 
intervention  of  the  state  or  other  corrective  agencies,  does 
not  appear.  But  governments  of  great  nations  the  world 
over  —  never  more  solicitous  regarding  the  welfare  of  the 
common  man  than  they  are  to-day  —  are  being  stimulated 
to  institute  extended  investigations  in  the  hope  of  hitting 
upon  a  remedy  for  conditions  universally  recognized  to  be 
subversive  of  national  resourcefulness  and  efficiency. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  investigations  is  that 
which  recently  has  been  carried  through  by  the  government 
of  Great  Britain.  Some  six  years  ago  that  indefatigable 
Welshman  whose  participation  in  public  affairs  has  lately 
been  so  active,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  was  President  of  the 
British  Board  of  Trade.  It  is  the  business  of  this  department, 
among  other  things,  to  bring  together  from  time  to  time 
information  which  may  be  of  service  in  promoting  the  social 
and  economic  well-being  of  the  British  people.  The  Camp- 
bell Bannerman  ministry,  of  which  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  a 


WAGES  AND   SAVINGS 


313 


member,  had  committed  itself  in  the  campaign  of  1906  to  the 
introduction  of  old-age  pensions  and  to  a  wide  variety  of 
other  social  reforms,  and  in  pursuance  of  this  programme  it 
was  deemed  advisable  to  set  on  foot  a  systematic  inquiry 
into  existing  conditions  of  living  in  England,  as  compared 
with  conditions  in  the  United  States  and  in  the  more  impor- 
tant of  the  continental  countries.  The  investigation,  carried 
on  under  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  direction  by  consuls,  municipal 
officials,  and  special  agents  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  extended 
over  several  years  and  was  probably  the  most  thorough  of 
the  kind  that  has  ever  been  undertaken.  During  the  past 
four  years  the  results  have  been  given  to  the  public  through 
the  medium  of  a  series  of  portly  volumes,  comprising  one  of 
1908  for  Great  Britain,  one  of  the  same  year  for  Germany, 
one  of  1909  for  France,  one  of  19 10  for  Belgium,  and  one  of 
191 1  for  the  United  States. 

The  first  important  fact  made  clear  by  the  inquiry  is  that 
during  the  past  decade  the  cost  of  living  in  England  has  risen 
sharply  —  probably  very  little  less  than  in  the  United  States 
during  the  same  period.  In  1909  the  Board  of  Trade  secured 
from  trade-unions  and  cooperative  societies  data  showing  the 
income  and  principal  items  of  expenditure  of  two  thousand 
typical  families  in  various  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
Taking  the  figures  thus  obtained  as  a  basis  of  comparison, 
the  compilers  of  the  report  of  1908  were  brought  to  the  con- 
clusion that  in  the  interim,  while  there  was  an  increase  in 
wages  of  from  1  to  2  per  cent,  the  margin  that  remained  after 
the  workingman  had  paid  his  rent  and  supplied  his  family 
with  food  was  distinctly  smaller  than  it  was  in  1904.  From 
1905  to  the  end  of  1908  wheat  rose  in  price  by  nearly  eleven 
cents  a  bushel ;  butter,  by  more  than  a  dollar  a  hundred- 
weight; potatoes,  by  over  five  dollars  a  ton.  Especially 
noteworthy  was  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  meat.  Beef  and 
pork  were  both  about  a  cent  a  pound  higher  in  1908  than  in 
1906,  and  the  rise  has  gone  steadily  forward  since  the  report 


314    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

was  compiled.  Only  one-fifth  of  the  beef  consumed  in  Eng- 
land to-day  is  produced  at  home,  and  it  is  to  that  fact  prin- 
cipally that  the  increase  of  meat  prices  is  to  be  attributed. 

The  Board  of  Trade's  investigations  in  Germany  were 
carried  on  in  thirty-five  representative  cities  and  towns 
having  an  aggregate  population  of  about  nine  millions. 
They  were  planned  to  cover  rents,  prices,  and  wages  in  rela- 
tion to  a  wide  variety  of  trades  —  engineering,  shipbuilding, 
paper-making,  brewing,  sugar-refining,  coal-mining,  metal 
industries,  textile  manufactures,  dock  labor,  etc.  —  to  the 
end  that  the  results  obtained  might  be  representative  and 
dependable.  The  outcome  was  the  establishment  of  three 
significant  facts :  (i)  that  in  Germany,  as  elsewhere,  there 
is  a  distinct  upward  trend  in  the  cost  of  living ;  (2)  that,  by 
reason  of  heavy  immigration  and  the  rapid  increase  of  popula- 
tion, the  supply  of  labor  tends  constantly  to  outrun  the  de- 
mand, resulting  in  a  minimum  advance  of  wages;  and  (3) 
that,  as  compared  with  England,  Germany  is  a  cheap  country 
for  the  rich  but  a  dear  one  for  the  poor.  Unless  made  with 
extreme  caution,  comparisons  of  conditions  of  living  in  various 
countries  are,  of  course,  apt  to  be  misleading.  The  necessities 
of  one  people  are  the  luxuries  of  another,  and,  as  has  been 
emphasized,  relative  habits  and  standards  of  life  are  of  larger 
significance  than  any  quantity  of  figures  expressing  the  sheer 
cost  of  bread  or  meat  or  clothing.  The  English  workingman, 
for  example,  usually  maintains  a  house  of  his  own,  or  at 
least  half  a  house,  with  four  or  five  rooms;  the  German  is 
more  apt  to  live  in  a  tenement  and  to  have  only  three  or  four 
rooms.  In  England  the  owner  of  the  workingman's  house 
pays  the  local  rates,  or  taxes,  and  recoups  himself  by  means 
of  the  rent  which  he  charges  his  tenant ;  in  Germany  the  ten- 
ant pays  the  rates  directly,  and  so  enjoys  a  lower  nominal 
rent.  The  Englishman  drinks  tea,  eats  wheaten  bread, 
and  relies  for  his  meat  largely  upon  beef  and  mutton;  the 
German  drinks  coffee,  eats  rye  bread,  and  confines  himself 
principally  to  pork. 


WAGES  AND   SAVINGS  315 

Out  of  a  mass  of  detailed  evidence,  taking  these  varying 
factors  as  much  as  possible  into  account,  it  is  deduced  by 
the  Board  of  Trade  experts  that  an  English  workingman 
living  in  Germany  after  the  fashion  to  which  he  has  been 
accustomed  in  his  own  country  would  have  to  spend  $2.19 
to  get  what  he  now  gets  for  $1.85  in  England ;  in  other  words, 
he  would  have  to  increase  his  expenditure  in  the  ratio  of  100 
to  118.  The  normal  German  rate  of  money  wages  per  week 
is  only  about  four-fifths  of  the  English  rate,  while  the  cost  of 
rent,  food,  and  fuel  is  nearly  a  fifth  greater  in  Germany 
than  in  England.  In  the  tremendous  race  for  national  effi- 
ciency in  which  Great  Britain  and  Germany  are  to-day 
engaged  these  facts  give  promise  of  assuming  considerable 
importance.  Germany  labors  under  a  handicap  which  is 
only  in  part  compensated  by  the  unusual  frugality  and  indus- 
try of  her  people.  A  general  outcry  against  the  growing  cost 
of  living  has  been  more  and  more  in  evidence  since  the  sharp 
depression  of  five  years  ago,  and  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  predict 
that  eventually  the  government  will  be  obliged  to  abandon  the 
protectionist,  pro-agrarian  policy  whereby  it  has  hitherto  min- 
istered to  the  narrow  interests  of  a  class  whose  sole  aim  is  the 
keeping  up  of  prices  on  home-grown  commodities. 

The  investigations  in  France  likewise  revealed  distinct 
advantages  on  the  side  of  Great  Britain.  The  level  of  wages 
in  France  as  compared  with  that  in  England  is  as  75  to  100, 
the  corresponding  ratio  for  Germany  and  England  being 
83  to  100.  In  the  building,  engineering,  and  printing  trades 
(which  alone  were  investigated  in  France)  the  hours  of 
labor  during  the  week  are  in  relation  to  the  working  hours 
in  England  as  117  to  100;  from  which  it  appears  that  the 
average  hourly  earnings  of  the  French  artisan  in  the  selected 
trades  stand  to  the  hourly  earnings  of  the  English  artisan 
in  the  ratio  of  but  64  to  100.  The  hourly  earnings  of  the 
Frenchman  are  thus  but  two-thirds  of  those  of  the  Eng- 
ishman,  and  at  least  15  per  cent  lower  than  those  of  the 


316    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

German  in  the  trades  named.  In  France,  as  elsewhere,  the 
cost  of  living  is  soaring.  Rents  (allowing  for  dissimilarities 
in  systems  of  taxation)  have  attained  a  level  of  only  about 
98  per  cent  of  those  prevailing  in  England,  but  sanitary 
arrangements,  including  water-supply,  are  distinctly  inferior, 
and  housing  conditions  are  far  below  the  English  standard. 
The  quantity  of  food  consumed  per  family  in  France  is  smaller 
than  in  England,  although,  since  the  French  family  is  on  the 
average  only  three-fourths  as  large  as  the  English  family, 
the  per  capita  consumption  is  probably  greater.  Certain 
it  is  that  the  per  capita  expenditure  for  food  in  France  is 
very  much  greater.  Milk  and  butter  are  practically  the 
only  foodstuffs  which  cost  less  in  France  than  in  England. 
The  remainder  attain  an  average  price  18  per  cent  higher, 
and  since  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  dearness  is  the  octroi 
duties  assessed  by  local  authorities  upon  commodities  sold 
in  the  markets,  the  Frenchman  cannot  hope  to  economize, 
as  the  German  may,  by  using  only  home-grown  products. 
It  is  estimated  that  if  an  average  English  workingman, 
transplanted  with  his  family  to  France,  were  to  attempt  to 
maintain  his  accustomed  standard  of  living,  his  expenditure 
upon  food  and  rent  would  be  increased  by  approximately 
18  per  cent.  To  meet  the  increase,  however,  he  would  receive 
lower  wages,  in  the  proportion  of  75  to  100,  although  spending 
117  hours  at  labor  for  every  100  to  which  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed in  his  native  country.1 

1  The  following  table  gives  some  indication  (in  percentages)  of  the  manner  in 
which  French,  German,  and  English  families  whose  incomes  range  between 
$7.50  and  $8.75  per  week  apportion  their  outlay  upon  standard  articles  of  food : 


Bread  and  flour    .    .     . 
Meat  and  fish  .    .    .    . 

Milk 

Butter,  lard,  etc.       .    . 
Fruit  and  vegetables 

(other  than  potatoes) 
Sugar      


French 


18 
30 

4-4 
11 

7 

2.7 


German 


16 
32 
7-4 
14 

4 
2.2 


English 


16 
29 
6.1 
11 

4 
4-3 


WAGES  AND   SAVINGS  317 

All  of  this,  however,  is  but  one  side  of  the  picture.  Over 
against  the  unfavorable  conditions  arising  from  the  increased 
cost  of  living  must  be  set  the  fact  that  the  savings  of  the 
masses  of  the  people  in  most  European  countries  are  yearly 
increasing.  Within  the  past  half-century  there  has  been 
a  remarkable  development  of  agencies,  public  and  private, 
by  means  of  which  thrift  is  encouraged  and  the  surplus 
earnings  of  the  working-classes  are  safeguarded.  The 
establishment  of  systems  of  social  insurance  and  the  exten- 
sion of  savings-banks  are  but  two  of  the  more  important 
means  that  have  been  brought  to  bear.  As  an  illustration 
of  the  sort  of  progress  which  is  being  realized  in  this  direc- 
tion it  may  be  of  interest  to  allude  to  the  position  occupied 
to-day  in  the  world  of  finance  by  the  "nation  of  little  savers," 
France,  and  to  point  out  to  what  extent  the  financial  power 
of  that  nation  reflects  the  prosperity  of  one  of  the  principal 
European  peoples. 

Ten  years  ago  the  role  of  the  world's  banker  belonged 
unquestionably  to  Great  Britain.  To-day  it  belongs  no 
less  unquestionably  to  France.  Great  Britain  is  still  the 
richest  of  European  nations,  though  France  is  not  far  behind, 
and  the  aggregate  of  British  investments  of  capital  in  the 
outlying  world  is  fully  twice  that  of  the  French.  But  the 
point  is  that  British  wealth  has  come  to  be  largely  static, 
whereas  that  of  France  is  fluid  or  dynamic,  and  when  loans 
are  to  be  floated,  industrial  enterprises  financed,  and  govern- 
ments tided  over  lean  years,  it  is  wealth  of  the  latter  sort  that 
counts.  Until  the  early  nineties  British  loans  and  place- 
ments of  capital  abroad  completely  outdistanced  those  of 
any  other  nation,  but  a  variety  of  circumstances,  capped  by 
the  war  in  South  Africa,  induced  a  period  of  prolonged  in- 
activity, from  which  there  has  been  in  recent  years  only  a 
partial  recovery.  During  some  decades  France  has  been  ac- 
quiring gradually  a  dominance  of  continental  finance,  and 
since  1900  she  has  been  cutting  down  steadily  the  prepon- 


318    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

derance  which  the  British  heretofore  have  enjoyed  in  the 
financing  of  outlying  countries,  even  of  the  British  imperial 
possessions. 

The  total  of  French  foreign  investments  to-day  is  variously 
estimated,  but  it  cannot  be  under  40,000,000,000  francs, 
or  approximately  one-fifth  of  the  aggregate  placement  of 
investing  countries  in  other  lands  at  the  present  time.  Of 
this  amount,  upwards  of  a  quarter  is  invested  in  Russia, 
predominantly  in  government  securities,  but  to  some  extent 
in  mining  and  industrial  enterprises;  something  like  three 
billions  have  been  placed  in  Spain,  half  in  government 
securities  and  half  in  railroads;  about  the  same  amount 
in  Austria,  principally  in  railroads;  about  a  billion  and  a 
half  each  in  Italy,  Turkey,  Egypt,  and  South  Africa;  more 
than  a  billion  each  in  England,  Germany,  Portugal,  and  the 
Argentine  Republic;  and  upwards  of  that  sum  in  Brazil, 
in  China,  and  in  the  United  States.  There  have  been  heavy 
placements  also  in  various  other  Latin-American  countries, 
as  Mexico  and  Colombia;  in  the  Balkan  states,  especially 
Servia;  in  Holland,  Belgium,  and  Switzerland;  and  in 
numerous  Asiatic  and  African  states,  including  the  British 
dependencies.  The  securities  of  Japan  and  of  the  United 
States  are  also  fast  growing  in  favor.  It  was  the  French 
who  furnished  Great  Britain  with  much  of  the  capital  by 
which  was  financed  the  Boer  war.  It  was  they  who  made 
it  possible  for  Russia  to  fight  Japan.  It  was  they  who  pro- 
vided Germany  with  a  billion  and  a  quarter  francs  in  1004- 
1905  to  assist  in  the  upbuilding  of  her  industrial  interests. 
It  was  they  who  supplied  borrowers  in  the  United  States 
with  enormous  sums  during  the  tight-money  periods  of 
1905-06  and  1907-08.  Such  a  grasp,  indeed,  has  France 
acquired  upon  the  world  of  finance  —  especially  in  Europe, 
but  in  no  small  degree  outside  —  that  it  would  to-day  be 
impossible  to  float  any  considerable  loan,  or  to  carry  off 
any  other  great  financial  operation,  without  the  assistance  of 


WAGES  AND   SAVINGS  319 

the  money  lords  of  Paris.  The  fact  is  one  of  tremendous 
importance,  wholly  outside  of  bank  and  counting-house. 
It  is  a  preponderating  factor  in  the  general  international 
situation.  One  of  the  safeguards  of  European  peace  un- 
questionably is  the  unassailable  power  of  the  French  nation 
in  the  domain  of  finance  and  the  ramifying  interests  of  the 
French  investing  public  which  would  be  jeopardized  by  war. 

The  sources  of  the  phenomenal  financial  strength  of  France 
are  numerous.  The  more  important  of  them  can  be  reduced 
to  three :  (1)  the  magnitude  of  the  accumulated  national 
wealth,  (2)  the  annual  savings  of  the  French  people,  arising 
from  their  unparalleled  thrift,  and  (3)  an  admirable  financial 
system,  including  the  most  satisfactory  banking  facilities 
in  the  world. 

One  may  make  almost  any  sort  of  estimate  as  to  the 
aggregate  wealth  of  France  and  be  able  to  back  it  up 
with  the  authority  of  a  French  economist.  M.  de  Foville 
puts  the  figure  at  212,000,000,000  francs;  Yves  Guyot,  at 
240,000,000,000;  Edmond  Thery,  at  250,000,000,000;  and 
Paul  Leroy-Beaulieu,  at  262,000,000,000.  In  any  case,  for 
a  population  of  forty  millions  the  amount  is  stupendous. 
Broadly  speaking,  it  is  considerably  more  than  the  wealth 
of  Germany,  somewhat  under  a  third  less  than  that  of  Great 
Britain,  and  approximately  one-half  of  that  of  the  United 
States.  As  compared  with  the  Italians,  the  Spaniards,  and 
even  the  Germans  and  the  Russians,  the  French  people  have 
been  advantageously  placed  for  the  acquisition  of  wealth. 
Conditions  of  climate  and  soil  have  been  favorable,  mineral 
resources  on  the  whole  abundant,  and  the  physical  basis  of 
existence  generally  satisfactory.  The  wealth  of  the  nation 
to-day,  however,  and  the  powerful  position  which  the 
country  has  assumed  in  the  world  of  finance,  must  be  re- 
garded as  the  achievement  of  the  French  people  themselves 
rather  than  as  the  product  of  circumstance.  When,  in  1871, 
Bismarck  exacted  from  the  prostrate  French  nation  a  war 


320    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

indemnity  of  five  billion  francs,  he  supposed  that  the  burden 
of  such  an  obligation  would  reduce  Germany's  traditional 
rival  to  impotence.  No  such  result,  however,  ensued.  Shorn 
of  two  of  her  richest  provinces,  distracted  by  domestic  issues 
and  disorders,  and  carrying  the  weight  of  a  war  expenditure 
(in  addition  to  the  indemnity)  of  six  and  a  quarter  billions, 
the  new  republic  contrived  to  borrow  at  will  from  her  own 
citizens  and  abroad,  to  pay  the  indemnity  within  the  space 
of  three  years,  and  to  enter  forthwith  upon  the  ambitious 
programme  of  military,  naval,  and  colonial  aggrandizement 
which  has  brought  her  into  the  high  station  that  she  occupies 
among  the  powers  to-day.  The  capacity  for  recuperation 
which  France  displayed  in  the  teeth  of  the  disasters  of  1870- 
187 1  was  one  of  the  marvels  of  the  nineteenth  century- 
There  was,  however,  nothing  miraculous  about  it.  Bis- 
marck had  simply  failed  to  make  allowance  for  the  hoards 
of  gold  tucked  away  in  the  people's  stockings.  He  had 
overlooked  the  native  thrift  and  persistence  of  the  French 
farmer,  trader,  and  artisan. 

During  the  forty  years  that  have  elapsed  since  Sedan  the 
population  of  France  has  gone  steadily  on  laying  by  funds  for 
a  rainy  day.  The  economists  generally  estimate  the  annual 
savings  of  the  French  people  at  from  a  billion  and  a  half  to 
two  billion  francs.  At  an  average  interest  rate  of  four  per 
cent,  this  means  a  yearly  increase  of  income  from  capital  of 
sixty  to  eighty  millions.  The  Frenchman  is  by  nature  thrifty. 
He  possesses  in  a  preeminent  degree  that  force  d'epargne 
which  ex-Chancellor  von  Biilow  on  a  memorable  occasion 
lauded  with  enthusiasm  in  the  Reichstag  and  commended 
to  his  countrymen.  France  is  a  nation  of  little  farms,  of 
little  incomes,  and  of  little  savers.  For  it  is  important  to 
observe  that  the  enormous  accumulations  of  surplus  capital 
with  which  the  Paris  bankers  flood  the  earth  are  not,  for  the 
most  part,  the  earnings  of  vast  industries,  but  are  rather  the 
aggregated  savings  of  the  great  masses  of  the  French  people 


WAGES  AND   SAVINGS  321 

—  of  shopkeepers  and  artisans,  of  clerks  and  laborers,  and 
especially  of  the  small  farmers.  Singly,  they  are  insignificant ; 
collectively,  they  wield  untold  influence  in  the  affairs  of 
Europe  and  of  the  world  at  large. 

The  thrifty  habits  of  the  Frenchman  are  not  left  to  flourish 
of  their  own  vigor.  They  are  systematically  cultivated  and 
rewarded,  by  the  state,  by  the  great  banking  institutions,  and 
by  numerous  private  or  semi-private  agencies.  To  begin 
with,  the  state  cordially  invites  every  citizen  of  the  republic 
to  become  a  holder  of  government  bonds,  and  it  follows  up 
the  invitation  with  a  series  of  arrangements  calculated  to 
afford  every  possible  facility  to  that  end.  The  French  na- 
tional debt  to-day  is  the  largest  in  the  world,  but  this  is  only 
one  of  its  claims  to  distinction.  It  is  held  almost  exclusively 
in  France,  and  it  is  held,  not  as  national  debts  usually  are, 
in  large  blocks,  and  by  great  financial  institutions  and  men 
of  wealth,  but  by  a  vast  body  of  investors  which  numbers 
more  than  three  millions  and  includes  a  very  great  proportion 
of  men  and  women  of  meagre  incomes.  In  April,  1908, 
2,293,450  holdings  —  seventy-three  per  cent  of  the  total  — 
were  of  less  than  thirty  francs.  This  "democratization"  of 
the  national  debt  has  been  brought  about  by  the  French 
government  through  measures  deliberately  pursued  during 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  M.  Caillaux,  twice  min- 
ister of  finance,  has  said  that,  though  not  in  all  respects  the 
most  economical  system  open  to  the  state,  it  has  been  ad- 
judged eminently  worth  while  because  of  its  promotion  of 
the  spirit  of  thrift  and  its  tangible  identification  of  the 
interests  of  the  citizen  with  those  of  the  nation.  Its  object 
is  broadly  social  and  political  —  to  enhance  the  wealth,  and 
consequently  the  power,  of  the  people,  and  to  promote  the 
solidarity  of  French  citizenship. 

To  attract  the  maximum  number  of  investors  the  govern- 
ment begins  by  issuing  its  bonds  in  nineteen  distinct  de- 
nominations, ranging  from  one,  two,  three,  four,  and  five  francs 


322    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

to  fifty,  one  hundred,  two  hundred,  and  eventually  up  to 
three  thousand.  By  way  of  contrast  it  may  be  pointed  out 
that  British  consols  are  issued  in  but  five  denominations, 
ranging  from  fifty  to  a  thousand  pounds.  The  Englishman 
cannot  therefore  invest  in  a  government  bond  unless  he  has 
in  hand  as  much  as  $250;  the  Frenchman  need  possess  but 
twenty  cents.  In  the  second  place,  the  Frenchman  is  afforded 
the  facilities  of  purchase  without  administrative  charge  at 
more  than  four  hundred  offices  throughout  the  country,  of 
cashing  his  coupons  at  any  one  of  over  six  thousand  offices, 
and  of  converting  his  small  denominations  into  larger  ones, 
or  vice  versa,  at  any  time  without  expense.  Rentes  are  exempt 
from  taxation,  and  the  yield  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  three 
per  cent.  The  demand  for  stock  is  insatiable.  The  lowliest 
wage-earner  vies  with  his  neighbor  in  quest  of  the  much- 
coveted  securities,  and  not  infrequently  application  is  made 
in  the  name  of  each  member  of  the  family,  sometimes  for 
but  a  single  franc  apiece.  Loans  are  invariably  heavily 
over-subscribed. 

Supplementing  the  devices  of  the  state  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  small  savings  and  investments  are  those  of  the  great 
French  banks.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the  individual  French 
investor  knows  much  about  la  haute  finance.  He  knows  that 
government  stock  is  absolutely  safe,  that  it  is  always  within 
his  reach,  and  that  it  is  profitable  to  hold.  Beyond  that  he 
is  disposed  to  be  guided  absolutely  by  his  banking  adviser. 
Nowhere  in  the  world  do  the  great  banking  institutions  give 
as  much  attention  to  the  monetary  interests  of  their  customers 
as  in  France.  They  advise  freely  what  to  buy,  and  even  what 
and  when  to  sell.  If  a  patron  is  found  to  be  carrying  a  bal- 
ance above  what  he  usually  carries,  the  bank  will  take  the 
trouble  to  write  him,  suggesting  profitable  lines  of  investment 
—  a  proceeding  which  is  not  uncommon  in  the  United  States, 
but  which  is  practically  unknown  in  England.  Customers 
are  assured  of  prompt  information  respecting  opportunities 


WAGES  AND   SAVINGS  323 

for  placing  their  money  to  advantage.  And  the  smallest 
depositor  is  extended  every  courtesy  and  service  which  is 
accorded  the  greatest.  Artisans,  farmers,  and  laborers  are 
encouraged  systematically  to  bring  in  their  pittances  and  to 
leave  them  to  be  employed  by  the  bank  in  such  enterprises 
as  from  time  to  time  may  give  promise  of  largest  and  surest 
returns.  The  Credit  Lyonnais,  which  in  volume  of  business 
easily  surpasses  all  other  French  banks  (including  the  Bank 
of  France  itself),  deals  regularly  with  several  hundred  thou- 
sand clients  of  this  sort,  and  the  Comptoir  National  d'Es- 
compte  de  Paris,  the  Societe  Generate,  and  the  Credit  Fon- 
der de  France,  carry  lists  almost  as  extended.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  there  are  not  fewer  than  a  million  such  in- 
vestors constantly  pouring  their  savings  into  the  vaults  of 
the  great  Parisian  banks  and  their  provincial  branches,  and 
it  is  chiefly  by  reason  of  this  situation  that  the  French  banks 
have  always  at  hand  a  seemingly  inexhaustible  surplus 
awaiting  the  demands  of  the  financial  world.  The  banks 
get  so  close  to  the  people  that  they  know  precisely  the  quan- 
tities of  stored-up  capital  that  can  be  called  into  play  under 
any  given  condition.  If  a  loan  is  to  be  placed  in  Russia,  they 
know  just  how  large  an  amount  can  be  floated  and  just  what 
stipulations  are  required  to  render  the  transaction  a  success. 
It  is  fundamentally  because  the  French  people  save  every 
year  great  masses  of  money  which  they  are  ready  to  have 
employed  in  any  profitable  venture,  and  because  of  the  facili- 
ties which  the  French  banks  have  worked  out  for  the  han- 
dling of  such  capital,  that  Paris  has  come  to  be  the  principal 
free-money  market  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

PUBLIC  EDUCATION 

The  nineteenth  century  is  not  uncommonly  thought  of  as 
an  era  whose  most  notable  developments  were  of  a  material- 
istic nature.  Without  question  the  expansion  of  business, 
the  growth  of  wealth,  and  the  improvement  of  the  physical 
conditions  of  livelihood  which  took  place  during  its  course 
surpassed  anything  of  the  kind  recorded  in  history.  At 
the  same  time,  however,  the  progress  attained  in  the  non- 
material  aspects  of  human  existence  was  very  great.  Less 
than  five  generations  ago  the  equality  of  men  before  the  law 
was  recognized,  even  in  theory,  in  not  half  a  dozen  European 
countries;  to-day,  such  equality  is  all  but  universal,  both  in 
theory  and  in  practice.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  as  has 
been  pointed  out,  the  mass  of  the  people  in  not  one  European 
country  participated  in  the  conduct  of  their  own  government ; 
to-day  there  is  no  governmental  system  in  which  the  people 
are  not  accorded  substantial  power,  and  in  most  systems  the 
ultimate  authority  is  that  wielded  by  the  common  man.  In 
the  eighteenth  century  freedom  of  religion  was  sharply  re- 
stricted, and  even  in  so  advanced  a  nation  as  England  the 
adherents  of  certain  faiths  were  excluded  from  a  variety  of 
privileges  and  rights;  nowadays,  save  in  some  of  the  more 
backward  eastern  states,  all  religions  are  tolerated  and  re- 
spected, and  the  religious  disabilities  that  remain  are  few  and 
unimportant. 

At  no  point,  however,  was  the  progress  of  the  century  more 
substantial  than  in  respect  to  popular  education.  A  hundred 
and  twenty-five  years  ago  the  means  and  methods  of  educa- 
tion in  European  countries  were  largely  such  as  had  been 
perpetuated  from  mediaeval  times.     The  conduct  of  education 

324 


PUBLIC  EDUCATION  325 

was  left  entirely  to  the  Church  and  to  private  agencies ;  the 
subjects  of  study  were  few  and  the  methods  of  instruction 
antiquated ;  and  for  only  a  small  proportion  of  the  youth  of 
the  various  countries  were  educational  facilities  at  all  avail- 
able. In  continental  states  education,  both  elementary  and 
advanced,  was  in  the  hands  principally  of  the  order  of  Jesuits, 
and  while  the  training  which  was  provided  equipped  the 
pupil  with  the  accomplishments  which  the  polite  world  de- 
manded, inquiry  and  thought  were  rather  stifled  than  stimu- 
lated. The  type  of  education  which  prevailed  was  criticised 
with  severity  by  Milton,  Locke,  Montaigne,  and  other  in- 
tellectual leaders,  and  in  the  widely  influential  Entile,  pub- 
lished in  1752,  Rousseau  developed  a  wholly  original  scheme 
which  he  commended  as  a  substitute  for  the  fruitless  educa- 
tional policies  of  his  day. 

The  French  Revolution  involved  a  forceful  assertion  of  the 
inherent  rights  of  man,  and  one  of  the  rights  which  ultimately 
was  derived  from  the  general  principle  was  that  of  training 
for  efficient  and  comfortable  living.  More  and  more  as  time 
progressed  this  conception  of  the  inalienable  right  of  the 
individual  to  receive  in  his  early  years  a  training  which  would 
fit  him  to  meet  the  needs  of  his  own  existence  became  the 
dominating  social  principle  of  the  century.  The  application 
of  it  involved  development  along  at  least  three  fundamental 
fines.  In  the  first  place,  the  idea  gradually  became  fixed  in 
the  various  countries  that  the  official  agent  of  public  educa- 
tion should  be  the  state,  rather  than  the  Church,  and  that 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  state  to  insist  upon  the  obtaining  of  at 
least  a  minimum  of  education  on  the  part  of  all  of  its  citizens. 
Closely  related  is  the  recognized  obligation  of  the  state  to 
provide  the  facilities  requisite  for  technical  training  and  for 
advanced  study.  The  greatly  increased  participation  of  the 
people  in  the  conduct  of  government  has  impressed  more  force- 
fully than  ever  before  the  need  that  the  public  intelligence 
be  maintained  at  the  highest  possible  level.    In  the  second 


326    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY   EUROPE 

place,  there  have  been  very  considerable  changes  in  respect 
to  the  subjects  of  study,  involving  especially  the  introduction 
of  the  natural  sciences,  the  social  sciences,  and  a  great  variet} 
of  technical  and  professional  subjects.  Finally,  there  has  been 
enormous  change  in  the  methods  employed  in  instruction. 
Rousseau  introduced  the  idea  that  the  method  of  education 
should  be  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  child,  and,  although 
the  great  Frenchman's  principle  of  adherence  to  nature  was 
responsible  in  practice  for  many  absurdities,  it  stimulated  the 
development  of  child  psychology  as  a  subject  of  investigation 
and  contributed  much  to  the  overthrow  of  the  non-flexible 
and  deadening  educational  practices  of  earlier  modern  times. 
Johann  Heinrich  Pestalozzi  (1745-1827),  the  eminent  edu- 
cator of  Switzerland  and  the  first  of  Europeans  to  preach  and 
practise  education  for  the  poor,  took  as  his  basal  principle  the 
training  of  the  child  through  the  child's  own  activities,  and 
the  eminently  practical  educational  scheme  which  Pestalozzi 
developed  was  carried  to  a  higher  stage  of  development  by 
the  originator  of  the  kindergarten,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  August 
Froebel  (1782-1852).  The  tendency  of  the  Pestalozzi- 
Froebel  system  to  excessive  emphasis  upon  impulse  and  feel- 
ing was  corrected  in  part  by  Johann  Friedrich  Herbart  (1776- 
1841),  by  whom  stress  was  placed  more  particularly  upon 
intellect  and  discipline.  In  relation  to  method,  the  funda- 
mental task  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  that  of  establishing 
a  vital  relationship  between  the  subject-matter  of  learning 
and  the  experience  of  the  individual,  with  the  consequence 
of  an  increase  of  range,  depth,  and  utility  of  knowledge. 

The  educational  history  of  nineteenth  century  Europe  is 
too  extensive  to  be  sketched  here  even  in  outline.  It  must 
suffice  to  speak  briefly  of  the  progress  which  has  been  achieved 
in  Great  Britain  and  to  allude  in  a  word  to  developments  in 
a  few  of  the  more  important  continental  countries.  The 
educational  history  of  Great  Britain  during  the  past  hundred 
years  falls  into  three  principal  periods.    The  first  extends  to 


PUBLIC   EDUCATION  327 

the  passage  of  the  Elementary  Education  Act  of  1870;  the 
second,  from  that  event  to  the  adoption  of  the  Education 
Act  of  1902;  the  third,  from  the  legislation  of  1902  to  the 
present  day.  During  the  first  of  these  periods  elementary 
education  was  predominantly  private.  It  was  conducted 
by  religious  bodies,  with  a  limited  amount  of  state  aid  and 
state  supervision,  and  parents  were  required  to  pay  fees  for 
the  education  of  their  children.  In  the  earlier  portion  of 
the  century  the  benefits  of  the  system  were  extended  to  but 
a  minority  of  the  population.  When,  as  one  writer  pointedly 
asserts,  Burke  appealed  in  1792  to  the  "free  and  enlightened' 
people  of  England  to  take  up  arms  against  the  French  Revo 
lution,  much  the  greater  portion  of  the  subjects  of  Kinj 
George  could  neither  read  nor  write.1  Furthermore,  it  was 
seriously  argued  that  the  education  of  the  masses  was  not  a 
thing  to  be  desired.  When,  in  1807,  a  member  of  Parliament 
proposed  that  parish  schools  should  be  supported  at  public 
expense,  the  objection  was  raised  that  the  provision  of  edu- 
cation for  the  working-classes  would  be  found  "prejudicial  to 
their  morals  and  their  happiness;  it  would  teach  them  to 
despise  their  lot  in  life  instead  of  making  them  good  servants 
in  agriculture  and  other  laborious  employments  to  which 
their  rank  has  destined  them ;  instead  of  teaching  them  sub- 
ordination, it  would  render  them  fractious  and  refractory,  as 
was  evident  in  the  manufacturing  counties ;  it  would  enable 
them  to  read  seditious  pamphlets,  vicious  books,  and  publica- 
tions against  Christianity ;  it  would  render  them  insolent  to 
their  superiors." 

It  was  not  until  1833  that  the  responsibility  of  the  state  for 
public  education  was  enforced  with  vigor  sufficient  to  render 
possible  a  meagre  appropriation  in  aid  of  education  on  the 
part  of  the  national  legislative  chambers.  The  act  of  the 
reformed  parliament  in  the  year  mentioned  —  the  fruit  of  a 
decade  of  agitation  led  by  Lord  Brougham  —  set  aside  £20,000 

1  Robinson  and  Beard,  "Development  of  Modern  Europe,"  II,  218. 


328    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

to  be  divided  between  two  private  associations  for  the  aid  of 
elementary  schools.  The  Established  Church  clung  rigidly 
to  its  accustomed  monopoly  of  educational  control,  and 
public  provision  for  educational  facilities  long  remained  the 
product,  not  of  any  preconceived  plan  or  theory,  but  of  ex- 
perimentation, compromise,  and  accident.  In  1839  Lord 
Melbourne's  government  established  a  public  education 
office  (the  Committee  of  Council  on  Education)  and  procured 
an  increase  of  the  annual  subvention  to  £30,000.  It  planned 
also  a  state  normal  school  for  the  training  of  teachers,  but 
this  design  was  frustrated  by  the  acerbity  of  ecclesiastical 
controversy.  In  1847  state  aid,  which  hitherto  had  been 
confined  to  schools  giving  instruction  in  the  tenets  of  the 
Church  of  England  and  to  schools  providing  "simple  Bible 
teaching,"  was  extended  to  schools  maintained  by  Wes- 
leyans,  Roman  Catholics,  and  Jews.  In  1856  the  vice- 
president  of  the  Committee  of  Council  on  Education  was 
given  the  status  of  a  minister  responsible  to  Parliament, 
and  in  1858  a  parliamentary  commission,  under  the  chair- 
manship of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  was  appointed  to  inves- 
tigate the  state  of  popular  education  and  to  recommend 
measures  such  as  should  be  adjudged  necessary  for  the  ex- 
tension of  education  to  the  masses. 

The  Newcastle  Commission  reported  in  1861.  It  was 
shown  that  the  number  of  children  attending  day  schools 
was  2,500,000,  which  meant  an  average  of  one  in  seven  of  the 
total  population,  as  compared  with  one  in  nine  in  France,  one 
in  eight  in  Holland,  and  one  in  six  in  Prussia,  where  school 
attendance  was  compulsory.  There  were  at  the  time,  how- 
ever, but  1,675,000  children  in  public  schools;  but  1,100,000 
in  schools  liable  to  inspection;  and  but  917,000  in  schools 
which  were  in  receipt  of  state  aid.  And  —  what  was  more 
serious  —  there  were  in  the  kingdom  upwards  of  2,000,000, 
children  who  were  not  in  school  at  all.  Such  schools  as  ex- 
isted were  unevenly  distributed,  large  districts  often  contain- 


PUBLIC  EDUCATION  329 

ing  none  whatever.  By  reason  of  the  religious  difficulty, 
the  majority  of  the  commission  felt  obliged  to  report  adversely 
upon  the  proposal  of  a  scheme  of  free  and  compulsory  in- 
struction, and  the  only  immediate  consequence  of  the  com- 
mission's work  was  the  inauguration  of  an  injudicious  plan 
of  paying  and  promoting  teachers  in  state-aided  schools  in 
accordance  with  the  results  of  their  instruction,  as  revealed 
by  the  examination  of  their  pupils.  This  scheme  of  payment 
by  results,  put  in  operation  in  1862,  was  not  abolished  finally 
until  1904. 

During  the  decade  1860-70  the  educational  problem  was 
discussed  widely,  and  numerous  measures  relating  to  the 
subject  were  projected.  The  trade-unions  were  calling  for 
the  education  of  the  laboring  masses.  The  enfranchisement 
of  the  workingmen  of  the  boroughs  in  1867  lent  impetus  to 
the  movement,  and  on  all  sides  was  heard  the  slogan  "we  now 
must  educate  our  masters."  Finally,  the  triumph  of  the 
North  over  the  South  in  the  American  Civil  War,  and  of  the 
Prussians  over  the  Austrians  in  the  war  of  1866,  seemed 
unmistakably  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  the  common 
school  as  an  agency  of  popular  intelligence,  patriotism,  and 
efficiency.  In  1870  the  first  Gladstone  government  was  able 
to  carry  a  measure  designed  to  provide  England  for  the  first 
time  in  her  history  with  a  broadly  national  educational  sys- 
tem. Already  the  yearly  grant  of  Parliament  in  aid  of  edu- 
cation had  risen  to  £700,000,  and  the  question  in  1870  was  one 
simply  of  increasing  this  outlay  and  of  broadening  the  au- 
thority of  the  state  in  educational  matters.  There  was  no 
thought  of  sweeping  away  the  existing  educational  order  and 
of  replacing  it  by  another  which  should  be  universal,  symmet- 
rical, and  centralized.  The  purpose  was  rather,  as  was  ex- 
plained by  Forster  when  introducing  the  bill,  "to  complete  the 
voluntary  system  and  to  fill  up  the  gaps."  By  the  terms  of 
the  act  England  was  divided  into  school  districts,  and  the 
educational  facilities  of  each  district  were  left  to  be  regulated 


330    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

as  circumstances  might  require.  If,  at  the  end  of  a  year,  a 
given  district  should  be  found  to  be  suitably  equipped  with 
schools,  no  new  schools  should  be  established  within  it. 
If,  however,  its  school  facilities  should  be  found  inadequate, 
local  school  boards  were  to  be  elected  within  the  district  with 
power  to  establish  new  schools  and  to  levy  local  taxes  for  the 
purpose.  In  any  case,  schools  must  submit  to  state  inspection, 
and  to  all  should  be  extended  some  measure  of  public  aid. 
Thus  existing  church,  or  "voluntary,"  schools  were  incor- 
porated in  the  system,  and  provision  was  made  for  two  groups 
of  educational  establishments,  i.e.,  church  schools,  supported 
by  tuition  fees,  voluntary  contributions,  and  parliamentary 
subsidies,  and  "board"  schools,  supported  by  tuition  fees, 
local  taxes,  and  parliamentary  grants. 

In  the  shaping  of  the  measure,  obstacles  were  imposed  at 
every  turn  by  the  religious  question.  A  considerable  wing 
of  the  Liberal  party  insisted  that  the  time  had  arrived  when 
elementary  education  should  be  divorced  entirely  from 
ecclesiastical  control,  but  the  majority  of  the  nation  and  of 
Parliament  believed  otherwise.  The  outcome  was  a  com- 
promise. The  church  schools  were  permitted  to  continue  to 
give  instruction  in  denominational  doctrine,  but,  to  the  end 
that  these  schools  might  not  be  effectually  closed  against 
adherents  of  other  denominations,  a  "conscience  clause"  was 
inserted,  stipulating  that  where  voluntary  schools  should 
include  in  their  curriculum  denominational  instruction,  such 
instruction  should  be  given  at  the  beginning  or  close  of  the 
session,  and  parents  should  be  free  to  have  their  children  ex- 
cused from  it.  In  the  board  schools,  maintained  in  part  by 
public  taxation,  religious  instruction  might  or  might  not  be 
permitted,  according  as  the  boards  of  the  several  districts 
should  determine ;  but  if  such  instruction  were  authorized,  it 
must  embrace  "no  catechism  or  religious  formulary  which  is 
distinctive  of  any  particular  denomination,"  and,  at  the 
request  of  parents,  children  might  be  excused  from  it. 


PUBLIC   EDUCATION 


331 


Although  the  act  of  1870  was  roundly  opposed  by  many 
elements,  being  pronounced  by  John  Bright  "the  worst  act 
passed  by  any  Liberal  parliament  since  1832,"  it  marked  the 
inauguration  of  a  new  era  in  English  education.  Within  two 
decades,  schools  were  more  than  doubled  in  number,  and  ac- 
commodations were  provided  for  substantially  the  whole  of  the 
population  of  school  age.  In  1880  a  law  was  passed  obliging 
local  educational  authorities  to  make  by-laws  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  compulsory  school  attendance,  and  in  1891  a  measure 
providing  an  extra  grant  for  schools  remitting  tuition  fees 
made  public  education  for  the  first  time  free.  An  act  of 
1893  made  eleven  (raised  in  1899  to  twelve)  years  the  mini- 
mum age  for  exemption  from  school  attendance,  and  another 
of  1900  authorized  the  local  authorities  to  extend  the  upper 
limit  of  compulsory  attendance  from  the  thirteenth  to  the 
fourteenth  year  of  age.  In  1889-91  laws  were  passed 
authorizing  county  councils  to  levy  a  tax  not  exceeding  a 
penny  in  the  pound  for  the  support  of  technical  schools,  and 
in  1899  there  was  legislation  empowering  the  councils  to 
establish  special  schools  or  classes  for  the  mentally  or  physi- 
cally defective. 

In  1902  the  Conservative  government  of  Lord  Salisbury 
carried  an  Education  Act  which,  although  pertaining  es- 
sentially to  matters  of  administration,  possessed  large  im- 
portance in  the  educational  economy  of  the  nation.  The 
impetus  responsible  for  the  act  was  supplied  principally  by 
the  Anglican  Church,  and  it  arose  from  the  increasing  dis- 
advantage financially  at  which  church  schools  found  them- 
selves after  1870  in  comparison  with  board  schools.  An 
additional  subsidy  voted  the  denominational  establishments 
in  1897  proved  inadequate,  and  agitation  for  relief  was  kept 
up  until  the  enactment  of  the  measure  of  1902.  By  this  law 
the  special  school  boards  provided  for  by  the  act  of  1870  were 
abolished,  and  the  management  of  schools  of  both  of  the  pre- 
vailing types  was  vested  in  the  county  and  borough  councils 


332    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

which  comprise  the  regular  local  governing  bodies.  An 
schools  were  to  be  maintained  from  parliamentary  grants, 
supplemented  by  local  taxes.  The  actual  control  of  church 
schools  in  each  local  district  was  to  be  exercised  by  a  com- 
mittee of  six,  two  of  whom  were  to  represent  the  county  or 
borough  council,  while  four  were  to  represent  the  denomina- 
tion under  whose  auspices  the  school  was  conducted.  Thus 
the  people  were  to  be  taxed  for  the  support  of  both  church  and 
non-church  schools,  but  in  the  control  of  the  former  they 
would  have  but  a  minority  voice. 

Although  the  conscience  clause  was  perpetuated,  the  meas- 
ure was  vigorously  opposed  by  dissenters  and  by  those  who 
advocate  secular  education.  It  was  denounced  as  a  device 
intended  primarily  to  augment  the  power  of  the  Anglican 
Church.  The  execution  of  the  law  proved  for  a  time  difficult 
in  the  extreme.  People  refused  to  pay  their  taxes,  and  their 
property  was  sold  by  the  public  authorities  to  cover  their 
obligations.  More  than  70,000  persons  were  summoned  to 
court.  Without  question,  the  feeling  aroused  by  the  issue 
was  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  overwhelming  defeat 
which  the  Conservative  government  suffered  at  the  elections 
of  January-February,   1906. 

The  Liberal  government  which  succeeded  made  a  deter- 
mined effort  in  1906  to  procure  the  passage  of  a  bill  designed 
to  undenominationalize,  though  not  wholly  to  secularize, 
popular  education.  The  bill,  introduced  April  9,  1906,  by 
Mr.  Augustine  Birrell,  President  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
stipulated  in  substance  that  after  January  1,  1908,  only 
schools  provided  by  the  local  educational  authorities  should 
be  recognized  as  public  schools ;  that  they  alone  should  be 
accorded  aid  from  public  funds ;  that  teachers  should  be  sub- 
jected to  no  religious  test;  and  that  while  denominational 
religious  instruction  for  those  who  should  desire  it  might  be 
given  two  mornings  a  week  in  schools  taken  over  by  the  edu- 
cational authorities  from  the  ecclesiastical  organizations,  it 


PUBLIC  EDUCATION  333 

should  be  provided  by  persons  not  belonging  to  the  regular 
teaching  staff  and  without  support  from  the  general  public. 
Slightly  amended,  this  measure  passed  the  Commons  by  a 
majority  of  192.  In  the  Lords  the  opposition  to  the  "Bir- 
religious  Bill"  was  overwhelming,  and  it  was  only  after  the 
measure  had  been  cut  to  pieces  that  it  could  be  carried.  The 
amendments  added  by  the  Lords  —  among  them  one  requir- 
ing denominational  instruction  during  school  hours  —  were  re- 
jected by  the  Commons  by  a  crushing  vote,  and,  recognizing 
the  impossibility  of  an  agreement  between  the  two  houses, 
the  government  forthwith  withdrew  the  bill.  The  subject 
has  continued  to  be  agitated,  but  no  legislation  relative  to  it 
has  been  possible.  Few  public  issues  in  Great  Britain  sur- 
pass it  in  seriousness  to-day. 

A  more  agreeable  fact  to  record  is  that,  whatever  the  merits 
and  the  faults  of  the  English  educational  system,  the  results 
attained  under  it  have  been  very  satisfactory.  As  late  as 
1843  the  percentage  of  men  who  were  illiterate  was  32,  and 
that  of  women,  49;  in  1903,  the  percentages  were,  respec- 
tively, but  2  and  3.  The  number  of  public  elementary 
schools  maintained  by  the  local  education  authorities  July  31, 
1910,  was,  in  England  alone,  18,865.  The  accommodations 
of  these  schools  were  ample  for  6,506,226  pupils,  and  the 
average  number  actually  in  attendance  was  4,976,416.  The 
"council"  schools  numbered  6677,  with  2,800,078  pupils; 
the  voluntary  schools  numbered  12,188,  with  2,176,338  pupils. 
The  number  of  schools  in  Wales  was  1833. 

In  the  majority  of  continental  countries  educational  prog- 
ress within  the  past  few  generations  has  kept  pace  with  that 
experienced  in  Great  Britain,  and  in  a  number  of  nations 
the  aggregate  of  progress,  if  not  the  level  of  attainment, 
represents  even  more  remarkable  achievement.  In  France 
and  in  those  countries  which  between  1789  and  181 5  fell  under 
the  influence  of  France  a  new  chapter  in  educational  history 
was  opened  by  the  Revolution  and  the  Napoleonic  domina- 


334    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

tion.  In  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  portions  of  Germany 
the  results  were  not  far-reaching,  but  in  France  herself, 
in  Belgium,  in  Holland,  in  Switzerland,  and  in  Prussia  they 
were  of  fundamental  and  permanent  importance.  In  France 
the  first  of  the  Revolutionary  constitutions  —  that  of  1791 
—  decreed  that  elementary  education  should  be  both  com- 
pulsory and  free.  The  decree  was  not,  and  could  not  be, 
carried  into  effect,  but,  as  has  been  described  elsewhere, 
one  of  the  principal  achievements  of  Napoleon  comprised 
the  establishment  of  a  vast,  national  educational  system, 
centralized  in  one  official  teaching  body,  the  Imperial  Uni- 
versity, and  based  upon  the  principle  of  absolute  state  monop- 
oly. After  1 81 5  the  Napoleonic  system  collapsed,  and  during 
the  Restoration  popular  education  fell  back  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Church.  The  essential  principles  of  universality 
and  public  regulation,  however,  did  not  perish,  and  in  our 
own  day  the  highly  centralized  educational  system  of  France 
bears  striking  evidence  of  Napoleonic  influence. 

In  1833  Guizot  carried  a  measure  by  which  was  laid  the 
immediate  foundation  of  modern  primary  education  in 
France.  This  measure  required  every  commune  to  main- 
tain an  elementary  school  and  to  provide  for  the  pay  of 
teachers.  In  1854  the  country  was  divided  for  educational 
purposes  into  sixteen  "academies,"  each  presided  over  by 
a  rector,  and  thus  was  instituted  an  administrative  arrange- 
ment which  is  characteristic  of  the  French  system  to-day. 
The  great  advance  which  France  has  attained  in  educational 
matters,  however,  has  come  since  the  German  war  of  1870- 
1871.  The  victories  of  Prussia  in  1886  and  1870  were  re- 
garded throughout  Europe  as  the  achievement,  in  the  final 
analysis,  of  the  schoolmaster,  and  the  effect,  especially  in 
France,  was  greatly  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  ade- 
quate educational  facilities.  The  establishment  of  the 
Third  Republic  worked  to  the  same  end,  for  now  that  man- 
hood suffrage  had  become  the  basis  of  public  power  it  was 


PUBLIC  EDUCATION  335 

felt  to  be  of  fundamental  importance  that  the  voters  be  men 
of  intelligence.  After  the  definite  establishment  of  the 
republic,  in  1875,  there  was  much  legislation  relative  to 
educational  matters.  In  1878  the  communes  were  compelled 
to  acquire  ownership  of  their  school  buildings.  In  1879  all 
departments  were  ordered  to  maintain  training  colleges  for 
teachers.  June  16,  1881,  Jules  Ferry  carried  a  momentous 
statute  by  which  all  fees  in  primary  schools  and  in  training 
colleges  were  abolished.  In  1882  another  great  measure 
made  school  attendance  compulsory  for  all  children  between 
the  ages  of  six  and  thirteen.  October  30,  1886,  education  was 
made  secular  by  an  act  stipulating  that  none  but  lay  persons 
should  give  instruction  in  public  school  sand  replacing  by 
"moral  instruction"  all  distinctively  religious  teaching  in 
these  schools.  Finally,  in  1889,  the  greater  part  of  the  costs 
of  public  education  were  taken  over  by  the  state  from  the 
departments  and  communes,  and  to  teachers  was  given  more 
clearly  than  before  the  status  of  public  officials.  The  com- 
pulsory, gratuitous,  secular  public  educational  system  of 
France  to-day  is  to  be  considered  one  of  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  the  Third  Republic.  Under  the  operation  of  it 
the  number  of  pupils  in  primary  schools  has  been  increased 
by  850,000,  illiteracy  has  been  reduced  from  25  per  cent  to 
4  per  cent  for  men  and  from  38  per  cent  to  7  per  cent  for 
women,  and  the  annual  outlay  for  educational  purposes  has 
been  trebled. 

Nowhere  has  educational  progress  during  the  century  ex- 
ceeded that  attained  in  Germany.  Throughout  the  Empire 
education  is  general  and  compulsory,  and  all  of  the  federated 
states  have  adopted,  with  minor  modifications,  the  very 
admirable  system  of  educational  administration  long  ago 
worked  out  by  the  kingdom  of  Prussia.  The  compulsory 
school  age  is  from  six  to  fourteen,  and  in  1906-07  the 
number  of  pupils  receiving  instruction  in  the  Volksschulen, 
or  elementary  public  schools,  of  the  Empire  reached  the  enor- 


336    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

mous  figure  9,737,262.  The  great  era  of  Prussian  popular 
education  dates  from  the  reforms  of  Wilhelm  von  Humboldt, 
carried  through  in  1809-10  during  the  ministry  of  Stein. 
Of  the  advance  that  has  been  realized  within  the  more  re- 
cent portion  of  that  era,  some  conception  may  be  formed 
by  reference  to  the  single  fact  that,  whereas  in  1875-76  the 
percentage  of  army  recruits  in  the  Empire  who  could  neither 
read  nor  write  was  23.7,  in  1900-01  it  was  but  0.45. 

Among  the  principal  countries  of  western  Europe  the  most 
backward  in  educational  matters  is  Italy;  yet  even  there 
great  development  has  been  experienced.  Prior  to  the  crea- 
tion of  the  Italian  Kingdom  in  1861,  popular  education  was 
all  but  utterly  neglected  by  the  governments  of  the  peninsula, 
and  by  ecclesiastical  and  private  agencies  as  well.  In  the 
year  mentioned  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  population 
were  illiterate,  and  in  Naples  and  Sicily  the  proportion  rose 
to  more  than  90  per  cent.  The  founders  of  the  new  national- 
ity recognized  the  imperative  necessity  that  this  condition 
be  remedied,  and  in  1877  there  was  passed  a  law  designed  to 
inaugurate  a  compulsory  educational  system.  This  law  was 
extended  in  1904,  when  three  thousand  additional  school 
buildings  were  ordered  to  be  erected.  The  support  of  pri- 
mary education  has  been  entrusted  entirely,  however,  to  the 
communes,  and  in  many  instances  it  continues  to  be  inad- 
equate, or  even  entirely  lacking.  Satisfactory  progress  will 
probably  be  found  to  require  the  assumption  of  all  or  part 
of  the  educational  burden  by  the  state.  In  1901,  however, 
the  percentage  of  illiteracy  throughout  the  country  was  52. 
This,  of  course,  is  very  high,  but  it  represents  a  reduction 
within  forty  years  of  approximately  one-third  in  the  propor- 
tion of  the  unlettered. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


THE   GROWTH  OF   SOCIALISM 


No  one  who  contemplates  thoughtfully  the  changes  by 
which  the  society  of  western  Europe  was  transformed  be- 
tween 1789  and  1850  can  fail  to  be  impressed  by  two  things. 
The  first  of  them  is  the  pronouncedly  individualistic  tone  of 
the  new  regime;  the  second,  the  relative  advantage  which 
accrued  to  the  middle-class,  bourgeois  elements  of  the  popula- 
tion as  distinguished  from  the  great  mass  of  landless,  money- 
less wage-earners.  One  would  be  rash  to  affirm  that  the 
network  of  society  is  less  tightly  drawn  to-day  than  it  was  in 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  But  the  most 
fundamental  achievement  of  the  overturn,  in  France  and 
elsewhere,  was  the  breaking  down  of  status  and  the  establish- 
ment of  what  Napoleon  characterized  so  fondly  as  the  car- 
Here  ouverte  aux  talents,  and  in  the  outcome  a  very  great 
number  of  ties  —  feudal,  manorial,  commercial,  industrial, 
ecclesiastical  —  by  which  men  had  been  bound  together 
were  severed.  In  reaction  against  a  system  under  which 
but  a  very  small  minority  of  men  were  free  from  obnoxious 
bonds  and  restraints,  the  tendency  was  in  the  direction  of 
the  opposite  extreme.  The  ideal  became  that  of  a  society 
in  which  all  should  be  common  citizens  of  the  state,  owing 
implicit  obedience,  paying  taxes,  and  rendering  service,  but 
as  between  man  and  man  there  should  be  a  very  wide  range 
of  freedom,  and  with  the  conditions  of  everyday  life  the 
public  authorities  should  concern  themselves  little  or  not  at 
all. 

To  some  men  this  meant  new  opportunity,  business  pros- 
perity, wealth.  But  to  others  less  shrewd  or  less  fortunate, 
it  meant  disappointment,  defeat,  and  new  forms  of  depend- 
z  337 


338    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

ency.  During  the  half-century  following  the  close  of  the 
Napoleonic  wars  there  was  in  France  and  most  other  countries 
a  remarkable  advance  in  agriculture,  industry,  and  trade, 
and  in  national  well-being.  But  one  fact  was  increasingly 
patent;  namely,  that  to  the  great  and  rapidly  growing  body 
of  men  who  lived  solely  by  wages  received  for  daily  toil,  the 
reforms  of  the  revolutionary  era  had  brought  little  of  benefit. 
The  laborer  owned  no  land ;  hence  he  had  never  been  called 
upon  to  pay  a  land  tax,  and  the  game  laws  framed  in  the 
interest  of  the  noble  huntsman  had  possessed  no  terrors  for 
him.  He  raised  no  grain  or  grapes ;  hence  he  had  never  been 
compelled  to  submit  to  legalized  robbery  at  a  lord's  mill  or 
wine-press.  He  was  not  engaged  in  trade;  hence  the  tolls 
and  tariffs  exacted  at  every  boundary  crossing  did  not  con- 
cern him,  save  perhaps  as  they  may  have  affected  the  prices 
which  he  was  called  upon  to  pay  for  commodities.  He  had 
no  lord ;  hence  he  had  not  been  annoyed  by  being  summoned 
to  labor  on  a  lord's  demesne.  All  these  and  other  vexations 
which  had  borne  heavily  upon  many  men  were  swept  away 
without  appreciably  modifying  the  wage-earner's  condition. 
The  mob  which  stormed  the  Bastile  in  1789  was  composed 
largely  of  landless,  hand-to-mouth  people,  but  before  the 
Revolution  had  far  progressed  the  fortunes  of  the  move- 
ment had  fallen  completely  under  the  guidance  of  men  who 
were  economically  and  socially  of  a  higher  rank  —  the  small 
traders  and  manufacturers,  the  shopkeepers,  and  especially 
the  small  landowners  and  other  men  who,  if  not  owners, 
had  at  least  some  interest  in  land.  The  consequence  was  that 
the  wage-earner  dropped  pretty  much  out  of  account,  and 
although,  on  the  whole,  he  was  without  doubt  better  off  after 
the  Revolution  than  before,  his  lot  was  by  no  means  so  much 
improved  as  was  that  of  the  man  whose  bit  of  land  or  open- 
ing in  trade  afforded  him  an  opportunity  for  independent 
prosperity  and  happiness. 

As  the  century  progressed,  this  matter  became  one  of  in- 


THE  GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM  339 

creased  seriousness.  The  number  of  wage-earners  was  at 
one  time  comparatively  small,  comprising  chiefly  men  em- 
ployed in  shops  and  on  farms.  With  the  coming  of  the 
industrial  revolution,  however,  the  situation  was  totally 
altered.  In  France  the  introduction  of  machinery,  steam- 
power,  and  the  factory  proceeded  rapidly  after  1825,  and  in 
Germany  it  assumed  large  proportions  half  a  generation  later. 
As  had  happened  somewhat  earlier  in  England,  profits  of 
manufacture  increased,  capitalists  invested  heavily  in  manu- 
facturing plants,  and  large  bodies  of  workingmen  were  drawn 
together  in  the  towns  to  take  advantage  of  the  new  oppor- 
tunities for  employment.  The  ranks  of  the  wage-earning 
classes  were  swollen  by  the  accession  of  thousands  of  people 
who  had  been  striving  unsuccessfully  to  make  a  living  by 
agriculture  or  trade.  Being  gathered  in  great  industrial 
centres,  the  laborers  were  enabled  to  acquire  mutual  acquaint- 
ance, to  discuss  together  the  conditions  under  which  they 
were  compelled  to  live  and  labor,  and  in  time  to  begin  the 
building  up  of  organizations  for  the  promotion  of  their 
common  interests. 

On  all  sides  it  was  apparent  that  the  wealth,  not  alone  of 
the  industrial  magnates  but  also  of  the  bourgeoisie,  was  fast 
being  increased.  Yet  wages  rose  but  little  or  not  at  all,  and 
the  man  dependent  upon  wages  was  often  little  more  favor- 
ably situated  than  he  might  have  been  a  century  earlier. 
The  principal  reason  why  wages  did  not  rise  lay  in  the  surplus 
of  labor.  Industry  grew  rapidly,  but  not  so  rapidly  as  the 
class  of  men  and  women  who  depended  upon  it  for  a  liveli- 
hood. Prices  continued  high,  and  as  between  prices  and 
wages  the  balance  tended  to  be  increasingly  unfavorable. 
There  were  no  well-defined  lines  of  promotion  for  laborers 
who  acquired  special  skill,  and  for  a  man  to  rise  by  merit 
from  one  variety  of  employment  to  another  commanding 
better  pay  was  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule.  On  the 
continent,  as  in  England,  too,  small  regard  was  paid  to  san- 


340    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

itation  and  other  safeguards  of  labor,  and  it  was  only  com* 
paratively  late  that  it  became  a  recognized  function  of  the 
state  to  provide  industrial  regulation  and  protection.  The 
individualistic,  laissez-faire  ideal  long  operated  to  prevent 
public  interference  in  the  relations  between  employer  and 
employe.  Free  competition  meant  too  often  in  practice  the 
liberty  of  the  powerful  to  exploit  the  weak.  Grossly  exces- 
sive hours  of  work  were  required,  the  labor  of  women  and 
children  was  widely  substituted  for  that  of  men,  and  in  France 
and  elsewhere  working-people  were  forbidden  by  law  to  enter 
into  any  sort  of  organization  intended  to  effect  a  change 
in  their  existing  condition. 

Throughout  the  Orleanist  period  the  discontent  of  the 
laboring  masses  in  France  was  steadily  increased.  Occa- 
sionally it  found  expression  in  insurrection,  as,  for  example, 
in  1 83 1  when  the  silk-weavers  of  Lyons,  receiving  the  meagre 
wage  of  18  sous  for  a  working-day  of  eighteen  hours,  rose 
with  the  cry  "We  will  live  by  working  or  die  fighting." 
Gradually  it  was  forced  upon  the  public  attention  that  a 
society  in  which  every  man  is  free  to  do  as  he  likes,  barring 
a  few  generally  recognized  offences  against  life  and  property, 
may  be  very  far  from  ideal ;  that  it  may  indeed  become  the 
theatre  of  fearful  oppression  of  the  weak  by  the  strong  and 
of  pitiless  exploitation  of  the  ignorant  by  the  intelligent. 
Throughout  the  years  1830-48  there  was  widespread  dis- 
cussion of  the  conditions  of  industry,  the  relations  of  capital 
and  labor,  and,  indeed,  of  the  laws  governing,  or  which  ought 
to  govern,  the  entire  social  order.  From  this  discussion 
emerged  the  first  considerable  body  of  principles  which  may 
be  characterized  as  socialistic. 

The  term  "  socialism, "  coined  in  England  in  1835,  was  intro- 
duced definitely  into  economic  phraseology  in  a  French  book 
published  in  184c.1    The  term  is  one  which  defies  conclusive 

1  L.  Reybaud,  "  Etudes  sur  les  Reformateurs  ou  Socialistes  Modernes  "  (Paris, 
1840). 


THE  GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM  341 

definition,  because  it  has  always  meant  different  things  to 
different  men;  and  few  words  in  any  language  have  ever 
been  more  grossly  overworked  and  abused.  For  present 
purposes  it  is  sufficient  merely  to  observe  that  socialism  is 
the  antithesis  of  individualism  and  that  it  involves  the  close 
organization  of  men  in  a  state  which  undertakes  the  more  or 
less  complete  control  of  the  production,  the  distribution,  and 
the  consumption  of  goods.1  It  is  based  upon  the  indubitable 
fact  that  the  result  of  centuries  of  social  evolution,  accen- 
tuated tremendously  by  the  rise  of  nineteenth  century  in- 
dustrialism, has  been  to  cut  off  a  vast  body  of  men  from  the 
possession  of  land  and  of  capital,  and  so  to  render  them  de- 
pendent absolutely  for  a  living  upon  the  wages  they  receive 
in  the  employ  of  other  men.  It  is  to  this  lack  of  first-hand 
access  to  the  sources  of  wealth  that  the  socialist  ascribes  a 
very  large  share  of  the  economic  ills  of  mankind,  and  it  is 
with  a  view  to  the  overcoming  of  this  essentially  unnatural 
situation  that  he  advocates  the  abolition  of  private  property 
and  the  vesting  of  the  means  of  production  in  a  state  which, 
it  is  supposed,  would  be  able  to  administer  them  with  equity 
and  in  such  a  manner  that  no  one  need  lack  the  means  of  a 
comfortable  existence. 

The  central  doctrine  of  the  socialist  creed  was  voiced  in 
France  long  before  the  days  of  Louis  Philippe.     The  first 

1  Two  definitions  that  have  been  given,  one  by  an  English  student  of  the 
subject,  the  other  by  an  American,  may  be  cited.  "What  is  characteristic 
of  socialism,"  says  John  Stuart  Mill,  "is  the  joint  ownership  by  all  the  members 
of  the  community  of  the  instruments  and  means  of  production,  which  carries 
with  it  the  consequence  that  the  division  of  all  the  produce  among  the  body  of 
owners  must  be  a  public  act  performed  according  to  the  rules  laid  down  by  the 
community."  Fortnightly  Review,  April,  1870.  "The  results  of  the  analysis 
of  socialism,"  says  Professor  Ely,  "may  be  brought  together  in  a  definition 
which  would  read  somewhat  as  follows :  Socialism  is  that  contemplated  system 
of  industrial  society  which  proposes  the  abolition  of  private  property  in  the  great 
material  instruments  of  production,  and  the  substitution  therefor  of  collective 
property;  and  advocates  the  collective  management  of  production,  together 
with  the  distribution  of  social  income  by  society,  and  private  property  in  the 
Iargei  proportion  of  this  income."     "Socialism  and  Social  Reform,"  19. 


342    SOCIAL   PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

of  French  socialists,  in  reality,  was  Francois  Noel  Baboeuf 
(1760-97),  an  active  participant  in  the  Revolution  who  was 
executed  in  1797  in  consequence  of  a  conspiracy  to  over- 
throw the  Directory.  It  was  Baboeuf  who  founded  the  first 
socialist  newspaper  ever  published  —  the  Tribune  of  the 
People.  The  essence  of  his  doctrine  is  summed  up  in  the 
declaration,  first,  that  "the  aim  of  society  is  the  happiness 
of  all,  and  happiness  consists  in  equality,"  and,  second,  that 
"nature  has  given  to  every  man  an  equal  right  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  all  goods."  The  equality  which  Baboeuf  advocated 
was  to  be  actual  and  absolute,  and  to  bring  it  about  it  was 
urged  that  the  state  should  form  a  great  common  property 
by  taking  over  the  possessions  of  corporations  and  public 
institutions  and  by  absorbing  subsequently  the  property  of 
private  individuals  by  assuming  ownership  upon  the  death 
of  present  possessors.  Within  half  a  century  the  state 
would  own  everything,  the  individual  nothing.  Officers 
elected  by  the  people  would  conduct  all  business  of  produc- 
tion and  distribution,  and  the  era  of  plenty  for  all  and  super- 
abundance for  none  would  be  at  hand.  So  far  was  the  prin- 
ciple of  equality  to  be  carried  that  all  citizens  of  the  new 
commonwealth  were  to  be  required  to  dress  alike,  with  dis- 
tinctions only  of  sex  and  age,  to  eat  the  same  varieties  of  food, 
and  to  receive  precisely  the  same  education ;  and  the  children 
were  to  be  separated  from  their  parents  and  brought  up  under 
conditions  which  would  make  socialists  of  them  and  prevent 
the  natural  development  of  differences  of  taste  and  capacity. 
No  more  purely  idealistic  programme  was  ever  enunciated, 
and  it  has  but  to  be  stated  to  render  its  impracticability 
apparent ;  but  it  is  interesting  as  the  first  and  one  of  the 
most  radical  of  French  socialistic  projects. 

The  greatest  name  in  the  history  of  socialist  speculation  in 
the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  that  of  Count  Henri 
de  Saint-Simon.  As  a  youth  Saint-Simon  served  under 
Washington    in    the    American    Revolution.     Returning    to 


THE   GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM  343 

France,  he  abandoned  a  promising  military  career  and  de- 
voted himself  to  the  study  of  politics  and  social  questions. 
He  became  wretchedly  poor  and  his  health  was  not  good,  but 
through  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  labored  to  evolve  a  social 
order  which  might  so  commend  itself  as  to  win  adoption. 
The  hypothesis  upon  which  he  built  was  that  the  greatest 
happiness  of  mankind  was  yet  to  be  realized.  "The  imagina- 
tion of  poets,"  he  declared,  "  has  placed  the  golden  age  at  the 
cradle  of  the  human  race,  amidst  the  ignorance  and  grossness 
of  the  earliest  times.  It  had  been  better  to  relegate  the  iron 
age  to  that  period.  The  golden  age  of  humanity  is  not  be- 
hind us ;  it  is  to  come,  and  will  be  found  in  the  perfection  of 
the  social  order.  Our  fathers  have  not  seen  it ;  our  children 
will  one  day  behold  it.  It  is  our  duty  to  prepare  the  way  for 
them."  The  French  Revolution,  it  was  urged,  had  cleared 
the  ground  for  a  new  organization  of  society,  and  in  the  vol- 
umes which  came  from  Saint-Simon's  pen  —  notably  "  The 
Catechism  of  Industry,"  "The  New  Christianity,"  and  "The 
Industrial  System"  —  there  were  expounded  the  principles 
which  it  was  believed  should  underlie  this  new  organization. 
These  principles  were  socialistic,  but  much  more  moderate  and 
sensible  than  were  the  levelling  doctrines  of  Babceuf.  The 
state,  it  was  maintained,  should  assume  control  of  the  pro- 
duction and  distribution  of  goods ;  but  there  should  be  kept 
a  strict  account  of  every  man's  industry  and  skill,  to  the  end 
that  returns  might  be  made  in  precise  proportion.  Equality 
of  distribution  was  affirmed  to  be  no  less  unjust  than  the 
inequalities  at  present  prevailing,  and  the  supreme  object  of 
Saint-Simon  was  to  evolve  a  plan  under  which  inducements  to 
individual  enterprise  and  thrift  would  be  as  compelling  as 
under  the  competitive  system,  and  yet  men  should  be  assured 
of  the  fruits  of  their  effort  as  against  other  men  who  might  be 
more  shrewd  or  more  powerful.  By  reason  of  his  scholarliness, 
his  moderation,  and  his  loftiness  of  character,  Saint-Simon 
deservedly  takes  high  rank  among  modern  reformers.    He 


344    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

was,  however,  a  thinker  rather  than  a  man  of  affairs,  and  the 
first  practical  experiments  with  socialistic  statecraft  were 
made  under  the  guidance  of  other  men. 

The  first  of  the  experimenters  was  Charles  Fourier,  the  son 
of  a  Besancon  cloth-merchant.  Fourier's  socialism  was  not 
quite  so  thoroughgoing  as  was  that  of  Babceuf  or  that  of 
Saint-Simon,  for  in  the  ideal  society  which  he  conceived  a 
limited  field  was  left  for  private  capital;  but  his  theories 
were  at  many  points  hopelessly  fantastic.  In  respect  to  the 
distribution  of  goods  he  proposed  to  fix  a  liberal  minimum  to 
be  bestowed  upon  each  citizen  of  the  state,  after  which  all 
products  that  remained  should  be  divided  among  labor,  capi- 
tal, and  talent,  the  first  receiving  five-twelfths,  the  second 
four-twelfths,  and  the  third  three-twelfths.  The  man  who 
worked  at  what  was  useful  should  be  given  more  than  he  who 
worked  at  what  was  merely  agreeable,  and  he  who  devoted  his 
energies  to  labor  that  was  necessary  should  receive  more  than 
either.  The  one  attempt  which  was  made  within  Fourier's 
lifetime  to  reduce  his  theories  to  practice,  undertaken  on  a 
large  estate  near  Versailles  in  1832,  failed  completely.  Of 
subsequent  attempts  in  France  all  failed  save  one  —  a  social 
community  founded  at  Guise  under  the  direction  of  a  wealthy 
manufacturer,  Jean  Godin,  which  survives  to-day.  After 
1840  Fourierism  was  brought  to  America,  and  since  the  date 
mentioned,  there  have  been  no  fewer  than  thirty-four  at- 
tempts, all  unsuccessful,  to  build  up  communities  founded 
upon  it.  The  most  notable  of  these  was  Brook  Farm,  whose 
leading  spirits  were  George  Ripley,  Charles  A.  Dana,  and 
Margaret  Fuller,  and  with  which  Horace  Greeley,  George 
William  Curtis,  and  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  had  some  connec- 
tion. A  contemporary  of  Fourier,  whose  social  experiments 
likewise  possess  special  interest  for  Americans,  was  Etienne 
Cabet,  author  of  a  volume,  "  The  Voyage  to  Icaria  "  (published 
in  1842),  in  which  is  sketched  the  organization  of  an  ideal 
commonwealth,  and  founder  of  a  communistic  settlement  at 


THE   GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM 


345 


Nauvoo,    Illinois,    subsequently    removed    to     the    vicinity 
of  Corning,   Iowa. 

Of  men  belonging  to  the  second  generation  of  French  so- 
cialistic leaders  two  are  of  principal  importance  —  Pierre 
Joseph  Proudhon  and  Louis  Blanc.  Proudhon,  born  in  1809,  is 
notable  chiefly  for  his  warfare  upon  the  principle  of  private 
property.  Starting  with  the  assumption  that  "property  is 
theft,  because  it  enables  him  who  has  not  produced  to  con- 
sume the  fruits  of  other  people's  toil,"  Proudhon  advocated 
the  adoption  of  an  economic  system,  whose  essential  was  the 
possession  rather  than  the  ownership  of  property,  and  of  a 
governmental  system  that  is  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from 
anarchy.  Louis  Blanc,  born  in  1813,  was  a  man  of  far  more 
practical  temper.  He  was,  indeed,  the  first  of  French  social- 
ists who  was  able  to  recruit  a  party  and  to  lead  it  to  temporary 
triumph.  Throughout  the  period  of  the  Orleanist  monarchy 
Blanc  opposed  as  a  writer  the  prevailing  bourgeois  govern- 
ment as  a  government  by  a  class  and  for  a  class  and  urged 
the  creation  of  a  state  which  should  be  thoroughly  demo- 
cratic in  respect  both  to  government  and  to  industry.  After 
the  state  should  have  been  placed  upon  a  broadly  demo- 
cratic basis  it  should  be  recognized  that  every  man  has 
a  natural  right  to  labor  for  his  own  support,  and  that, 
if  employment  was  not  to  be  had  at  the  hands  of  private 
individuals,  it  was  the  function  of  the  state  to  supply 
it.  To  provide  the  necessary  opportunities  for  labor,  the 
state  should  set  up  national  workshops  (ateliers  sociaux),  to 
be  controlled  by  the  workers  and  to  be  operated  for  their 
benefit.  By  stages  the  national  workshops  should  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  privately  owned  industrial  establishments,  and 
industrial  competition  should  be  made  to  give  way  to  coopera- 
tive production.  Every  man  should  be  expected  to  produce 
according  to  his  ability  and  to  consume  according  to  his 
need. 

Blanc's  programme  possessed  the  merits  of  moderation  and 


346    SOCIAL  PROGRESS   IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

definiteness,  and  it  was  advocated  forcefully  and  vividly.  The 
consequence  was  that  it  made  a  wide  appeal,  and  before  the 
middle  of  the  century  there  came  to  be  in  France  a  Socialist 
party  of  substantial  coherence  and  strength.  The  revolu- 
tionary movement  of  1848  —  in  no  small  measure  inspired 
by  the  growth  of  socialist  doctrine  —  afforded  Blanc  and  his 
followers  an  opportunity  to  reduce  some  of  their  theories  to 
practice.  February  24,  1848,  Louis  Philippe  was  obliged  to 
abdicate,  whereupon  there  was  set  up  a  provisional  govern- 
ment pending  the  definite  establishment  of  a  republic.  One 
member  of  this  provisional  government  was  Blanc,  and  from 
the  first  the  socialist  element  in  it  was  very  influential.  The 
essential  object  of  this  element  was  the  reconstruction  of 
society  in  the  interest  of  the  wage-earning  classes.  The  step 
which  seemed  for  the  moment  most  practicable  was  the  en- 
forcement of  Blanc's  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  "right  to 
labor,"  and  with  such  vigor  was  this  demand  pushed  that 
the  provisional  government  was  brought  both  to  an  official 
recognition  of  the  principle  and  to  the  inauguration  of  meas- 
ures designed  to  give  the  principle  effect.  There  was  estab- 
lished in  the  Luxembourg  Palace  a  public  labor  commission, 
presided  over  by  Blanc  and  comprising  representatives  of 
various  crafts,  and  on  the  recommendation  of  this  commis- 
sion the  government  reduced  the  working  day  in  Paris  from 
eleven  hours  to  ten,  abolished  "sweating,"  and  set  up  a  sys- 
tem of  national  workshops  in  which  labor  at  a  uniform  wage 
of  two  francs  a  day  was  supposedly  to  be  supplied  to  all  ap- 
plicants. The  number  of  applicants  proved  so  vast,  however, 
that  the  government  was  immediately  at  a  loss  to  provide 
adequate  labor.  The  number  of  working  days  in  the  week 
was  reduced  to  two,  and  the  total  weekly  wage  was  fixed  at 
eight  francs,  but  this  did  not  greatly  help  matters.  The 
government  continued  to  be  overwhelmed  with  applicants; 
large  numbers  of  men  were  kept  idle  most  or  all  of  the  time ; 
and,  although  the  aggregate  drain  upon  the  Treasury  was 


THE   GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM  347 

enormous,  the  wage  received  by  the  individual  workingman 
was  pitifully  meagre. 

The  experiment  failed  signally,  as  indeed  the  majority  of 
the  provisional  government  had  expected  and  intended. 
Many  features  of  the  arrangement  were  not  at  all  such  as 
Blanc  had  advocated,  but  the  scheme  was  represented  con- 
stantly as  his,  and  it  was  the  purpose  of  his  opponents  to 
bring  discredit  upon  both  him  and  it.  In  a  considerable 
measure  the  purpose  was  achieved.  In  the  convention  elected 
April  23,  1848,  to  frame  a  new  constitution  for  the  country, 
the  socialists  possessed  little  strength,  and  a  new  provisional 
government  set  up  by  this  body  proceeded  to  abolish  the  work- 
shops. The  socialistic  populace  of  the  capital  rose  in  rebellion, 
and  there  ensued  some  days  of  the  most  fearful  street  fighting 
Paris  had  ever  witnessed.  But  the  government  was  trium- 
phant, and  the  ground  which  the  socialists  had  gained  was 
all  but  completely  lost.  Moved  by  the  fear  that  should  the 
socialists  acquire  the  upper  hand,  they  would  abolish  property 
in  land,  the  great  mass  of  rural  proprietors  throughout  the 
country  refused,  as  their  descendants  largely  refuse  still,  to  lend 
their  support  to  the  socialist  propaganda,  and  socialism  in 
France  continued  to  be  confined  almost  wholly  to  the  in- 
dustrial and  floating  populations  of  the  towns,  principally 
Paris. 

The  history  of  socialism  in  France  during  the  first  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century  is  replete  with  thinkers,  experimenters, 
movements,  schools,  and  programmes.  That  of  English  so- 
cialism in  the  same  period  is  the  story  largely  of  the  career 
of  one  man,  the  manufacturer-philanthropist,  Robert  Owen. 
The  earlier  activities  of  Owen  in  the  domain  of  social  reform 
were  confined  to  the  improvement  of  conditions  among  his 
own  employes  in  the  Scotch  manufacturing  village  of  New 
Lanark.  Within  the  first  two  decades  of  the  century  he 
succeeded  in  transforming  a  degenerate  and  wretched  popu- 
lation into  a  model  community  of  healthy,  industrious,  and 


348  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

contented  men  and  women.  In  1817  Owen  was  invited  by  a 
committee  of  the  Association  for  the  Relief  of  the  Manufac- 
turing and  Laboring  Poor  to  communicate  his  views  respecting 
the  causes  and  remedies  of  social  misery.  He  embraced  the 
opportunity,  and  it  was  at  this  time  that  the  economic  doc- 
trine for  which  Owen  stands  was  first  formally  enunciated. 
The  causes  of  poverty  and  social  distress  Owen  held  to  be 
inseparable  from  industrial  competition,  and  it  was  his  belief 
that  with  the  extension  of  the  competitive  system  and  the 
increase  of  the  productivity  of  labor  the  condition  of  the 
working-classes  must  continually  deteriorate.  The  remedy 
he  found  in  cooperation.  Like  Fourier,  he  advocated  the 
organization  of  men  in  groups  which  should  own  and  use  in 
common  all  the  means  of  production  necessary  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  members  of  the  group.  The  advantages  of  such 
cooperative  effort  he  urged  in  a  multitude  of  pamphlets  and 
tracts,  and  he  appealed  repeatedly  to  the  monarchs  of  Europe 
to  inaugurate  in  their  dominions  the  cooperative  system.  In 
consequence  of  his  agitation  a  number  of  cooperative  colo- 
nies were  established  in  Great  Britain,  and  also  some  in  the 
United  States,  notably  the  settlement  at  New  Harmony, 
Indiana.  These  experiments  were  generally  unsuccessful, 
but  the  influence  of  Owen's  teaching  was  enduring,  and  it  is 
from  it  that  numerous  cooperative  enterprises  in  the  English- 
speaking  world  to-day  derive  largely  their  inspiration. 

At  the  middle  of  the  century  Owen's  conception  of  free 
competition  as  essentially  a  form  of  warfare,  and  his  pro- 
posals to  ameliorate  conditions  through  cooperation,  were 
taken  over  by  a  school  of  Christian  socialists  and  given  fresh 
vigor  and  application.  The  founders  of  English  Christian 
socialism  were  Charles  Kingsley,  Frederick  Maurice,  and 
Thomas  Hughes.  These  men  revolted  against  the  easy- 
going laissez-faire  principles  of  their  generation  and  main- 
tained that  it  was  the  business  of  the  state  to  concern  itself 
vigilantly  with  the  protection  of  the  weak.    The  economic 


THE   GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM 


349 


liberalism  of  Cobden  and  Bright  Kingsley  pronounced  "the 
worst  of  all  narrow,  hypocritical,  anarchic,  and  atheistic 
social  philosophies."  A  newspaper,  the  Christian  Socialist, 
was  established  in  London,  and  a  total  of  forty-one  coopera- 
tive societies  were  founded  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom. 
These  societies  failed,  but  organizations  for  the  distribution 
of  goods  through  cooperative  stores  in  many  instances  suc- 
ceeded, and  the  influence  of  Christian  socialist  doctrine  by 
no  means  disappeared  with  the  collapse  of  the  formal  move- 
ment. 

In  Germany  socialistic  thought  made  small  headway  until 
after  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  his  "  Closed 
Trading  State  "  the  philosopher  Fichte  (i  762-1814)  advocated 
state  regulation  of  the  production  and  distribution  of  goods, 
but  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  proposal  was  received  with 
interest.  In  a  series  of  books  published  between  1838  and 
1846  Wilhelm  Weitling  (1808-71)  expounded  doctrines 
that  were  thoroughly  socialistic  and  made  direct  appeal  to 
the  working-classes;  and  in  1842  Karl  Johann  Rodbertus 
—  denominated  by  one  German  authority  "  the  first,  the 
most  original,  and  the  boldest  representative  of  scientific 
socialism  in  Germany"  —  published  his  remarkable  social- 
istic treatise  "Our  Economic  Condition." 

But  the  real  founders  of  German  socialism  were  Karl 
Marx  (1818-63)  and  Friedrich  Engels  (1820-95).  These 
two  men  formed  an  intellectual  partnership  as  early  as  1842, 
and  until  Marx's  death  they  carried  on  relentless  socialistic 
agitation.  In  1848  they  issued  from  Brussels  a  communist 
manifesto  which,  translated  into  most  of  the  tongues  of  the 
civilized  world,  remains  to-day  the  classic  exposition  of 
modern  evolutionary  socialism.  "In  savagery,"  declared 
Marx,  "each  man  produces  separately  for  himself;  in  our 
recent  civilization  the  many  produce  mainly  for  the  few; 
in  a  more  perfect  state  all  will  produce  collectively  for  all."  The 
changes  upon  which  Marx  and  Engels  most  insisted  included 


350    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

the  establishment  of  republican  government,  the  payment  of 
members  of  the  national  parliament,  the  conversion  of 
"princely  and  other  feudal  holdings"  into  state  property, 
the  monopolization  of  transportation  by  the  state,  provision 
for  universal  and  free  education,  and  state  guaranty  to  all 
working-people  of  employment  and  of  care  for  the  incapable. 
In  1850  Marx  published  his  "  Critique  of  Political  Economy," 
and  in  1867  the  first  volume  of  his  monumental  work  "  Das 
Kapital,"1  a  book  which  has  deservedly  been  termed  the 
Bible  of  the  German  social  democracy.  During  a  consider- 
able portion  of  his  later  life  Marx  was  occupied  largely  with 
the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  International  Working- 
men's  Association  (commonly  referred  to  simply  as  "the 
International"),  an  organization  formed  originally  at  London 
in  May,  1864,  by  British  trade-unionists  and  a  number  of 
political  refugees  representing  several  of  the  continental 
countries.  The  International  extended  its  activities  through- 
out western  Europe  and  during  upwards  of  a  decade  it  was 
regarded  as  a  distinct  power  in  politics  and  legislation.  In 
the  early  seventies  the  organization  collapsed,  principally 
by  reason  of  the  irreconcilable  differences  which  arose  be- 
tween the  Marxian  evolutionary  socialists  and  the  school  of 
individualist  anarchists  led  by  Michael  Bakounin;  but  in 
the  closer  coordination  of  the  socialism  of  the  various 
countries  its  fundamental  purpose  was  at  least  in  part 
achieved.  In  Italy,  France,  Belgium,  and  portions  of 
Switzerland  the  fiery  doctrines  of  anarchism  attracted 
for  a  time  numerous  adherents,  but  in  Germany  the 
mass  of  the  radical-minded  continued  to  support  Marxian 
socialism.  Powerful  influence  in  this  direction  was  wielded 
by  a  learned  and  eloquent  disciple  of  Marx,  Ferdinand 
Lassalle  (1825-64),  who,  although  active  in  the  cause  during 
but  little  more  than  the  last  two  years  of  his  life,  is  entitled 

1  The  second  and  third  volumes,  completing  the  work,  were  left    unfinished 
at  Marx's  death.    They  were  edited  and  published  subsequently  by  Engels. 


THE   GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM  351 

to  be  ranked  among  the  really  important  popular  leaders  of 
the  century.  Under  the  inspiration  of  Lassalle  there  was 
organized  at  Leipsic,  May  23,  1863,  a  Universal  German 
Workingman's  Association.  Six  years  later  there  was 
founded  at  Eisenach,  under  the  leadership  of  August  Bebel 
and  Wilhelm  Liebknecht,  a  Social  Democratic  party.  Be- 
tween the  two  organizations  there  was  for  a  time  keen  rivalry, 
but  at  a  congress  held  at  Gotha,  in  May,  1875,  they  (together 
with  other  existing  socialist  societies  in  Germany)  were 
merged  in  one  body,  which  has  continued  to  this  day  to  be 
known  as  the  Social  Democratic  party. 

The  development  of  socialism  in  Germany  between  1870 
and  1880,  in  respect  to  both  numbers  and  efficiency  of  organi- 
zation, was  rapid.  At  the  parliamentary  election  of  1871  the 
Social  Democratic  vote  was  124,655  (3  per  cent  of  the  total), 
and  two  Social  Democrats  were  chosen  to  the  Reichstag. 
In  1874  the  popular  vote  was  351,952,  and  nine  members  were 
elected;  in  1877  it  was  493,288,  and  the  number  of  successful 
candidates  was  twelve.  By  the  Emperor  William  I.  and  by 
his  Chancellor,  Bismarck,  as  indeed  by  the  ruling  classes 
generally,  the  progress  of  the  movement  was  viewed  with 
alarm.  Most  of  the  great  projects  of  the  Imperial  govern- 
ment were  resisted  by  the  Social  Democrats  and  the  members 
of  the  party  were  understood  to  stand  in  opposition  to  the 
entire  existing  order.  Two  attempts  in  1878  upon  the  life 
of  the  Emperor,  made  by  men  who  were  socialists,  but  dis- 
avowed by  the  socialists  as  a  party,  afforded  the  authorities 
the  desired  opportunity  to  enter  upon  a  campaign  of  socialist 
extermination. 

The  policy  which  Bismarck  brought  to  bear  was  twofold : 
relentless  repression  of  socialist  agitation  and  legislation  for 
the  amelioration  of  those  conditions  by  which  the  working 
classes  were  induced  to  lend  socialism  their  support.  At 
the  elections  which  were  held  while  the  anti-socialist  reaction 
was  at  its  height  the  Social  Democrats  obtained  but  437,158 


352    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

votes,  and  the  new  parliament  was  influenced  to  enact,  in 
October,  1878,  a  measure  of  remarkable  severity,  intended 
to  stamp  out  every  trace  of  socialist  propaganda.  All 
socialist  societies  were  ordered  to  be  disbanded;  labor 
organizations  were  subjected  to  rigid  police  supervision; 
socialist  meetings  were  prohibited;  socialist  newspapers 
were  suppressed;  the  circulation  of  socialist  literature  was 
constituted  a  penal  offence,  and  every  sort  of  effort  to 
propagate  socialist  doctrine  was  made  punishable  by  fines 
and  imprisonment.  Martial  law  might  be  proclaimed  where 
deemed  expedient,  and  the  decree  of  a  police  official  practi- 
cally sufficed  to  expel  from  the  Empire  any  person  accused 
or  suspected  of  being  a  socialist.  This  law,  twice  reenacted, 
continued  in  operation  until  1890,  and  much  of  the  time  it 
was  enforced  with  vigor.  At  the  same  time  that  effort  was 
being  made  to  annihilate  organized  socialism,  the  government 
busied  itself  with  a  programme  of  social  reform,  which, 
partaking  strongly  of  the  character  of  state  socialism,  was 
calculated  to  cut  the  ground  from  under  the  Social  Demo- 
cratic forces.  The  most  important  steps  taken  in  this  direc- 
tion comprised  the  inauguration  of  the  various  schemes  of 
social  insurance  —  sickness  insurance  in  1883,  accident 
insurance  in  1884,  and  old-age  and  invalidity  insurance  in 
1889  —  described  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Closely  related 
was  the  institution  of  state  ownership  of  railways  and  of  the 
state  monopoly  of  tobacco. 

For  a  time  the  measures  of  the  government  appeared  to 
be  successful,  and  the  official  press  loudly  proclaimed  that 
socialism  in  Germany  was  extinct.  In  reality,  however, 
socialism  thrived  on  persecution.  In  the  hour  of  Bismarck's 
apparent  triumph  the  socialist  propaganda  was  being  pushed 
covertly  in  every  corner  of  the  Empire.  A  party  organ  known 
as  the  Social  Democrat  was  published  in  Switzerland,  and 
every  week  thousands  of  copies  found  their  way  across  the 
border  and  were  passed  from  hand  to  hand  among  determined 


THE   GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM  353 

readers  and  converts.  A  compact  organization  was  main- 
tained, a  treasury  was  established  and  kept  well  supplied, 
and  with  evident  truth  the  Social  Democrats  declare  to-day 
that  in  no  small  degree  they  owe  their  superb  organization 
to  the  Bismarckian  era  of  repression.  In  1884  the  Social 
Democratic  vote  rose  to  549,990  (9.7  per  cent  of  the  to+al), 
and  the  party  contingent  in  the  Reichstag  was  increased  to 
24.  In  1890  the  popular  vote  attained  the  enormous  total 
of  1,427,298  (19.7  per  cent  of  the  total),  and  the  number  of 
Social  Democratic  representatives  was  increased  to  35. 
Repression  was  manifestly  a  failure,  and  in  1890  the  Reichs- 
tag, with  the  sanction  of  the  new  emperor,  William  II., 
wisely  declined  to  renew  the  persecuting  statute.  From  their 
contest  with  Bismarck  the  socialists  emerged  with  a  popular 
and  a  parliamentary  strength  increased  threefold. 

Since  1890  the  growth  of  the  German  Social  Democracy 
has  been  phenomenally  rapid.  In  1893  the  adherents  of  the 
party  cast  a  total  of  1,876,738  votes  and  elected  44  repre- 
sentatives. In  1896  the  popular  vote  was  2,007,076  and  the 
number  of  members  elected  was  57.  In  1903  the  popular 
vote  rose  to  3,008,000  (24  per  cent  of  the  total,  and  larger 
than  that  of  any  other  single  party),  and  the  quota  in  the 
Reichstag  was  increased  to  81.  In  1907  the  popular  vote  was 
3,258,968,  but  by  reason  of  unusual  cooperation  on  the  part 
of  political  groups  opposed  to  the  Social  Democrats  the 
number  of  representatives  elected  fell  to  43.  At  the  elections 
of  19 1 2,  however,  the  Social  Democratic  triumph  was  un- 
expectedly overwhelming.  The  popular  vote  was  approxi- 
mately 4,400,000  (32  per  cent  of  the  total)  and  the  number 
of  Social  Democratic  representatives  rose  to  no,  in  a  total 
membership  of  397.  The  socialist  candidate  in  the  "palace 
district"  of  Berlin  was  defeated  by  but  seven  votes;  and 
when  the  Reichstag  was  convened,  it  was  only  by  dexterous 
"log-rolling"  on  the  part  of  the  Clerical- Conservative  bloc 
that  the  election  of  the  socialist  leader,  August  Bebel,  to  the 


354    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

presidency  of  the  chamber  was  averted.  But  for  the  fact  that 
persistent  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  permit 
a  redistribution  of  parliamentary  seats  has  operated  to 
prevent  the  proportional  representation  of  growing  urban 
populations,  the  strength  of  the  Social  Democrats  in  the 
Reichstag  would  long  have  exceeded  the  figures  that  have 
been  given. 

The  supreme  governing  authority  of  the  German  Social 
Democratic  party  is  a  congress  composed  of  six  delegates 
from  each  electoral  district  of  the  Empire,  the  socialist 
members  of  the  Reichstag,  and  the  members  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  party.  This  congress  convenes  annually, 
and  it  possesses  power  to  regulate  the  organization  of  the 
party  and  to  take  action  upon  all  proposals  submitted  to  it 
by  the  party  members.  The  programme  of  the  party  was 
worked  over  at  the  congress  at  Halle  in  1890,  and  at  the  meet- 
ing at  Erfurt  in  1891  all  traces  of  anarchistic  influence  were 
eliminated  from  it,  and  it  was  put  in  shape  so  effectively  that 
in  subsequent  times  it  has  required  but  little  modification. 
The  essential  object  of  the  party  is  stated  in  the  Erfurt 
platform  as  follows:  "Nothing  but  the  conversion  of  capi- 
talistic private  ownership  of  the  means  of  production  —  the 
earth  and  its  fruits,  mines  and  quarries,  raw  material, 
tools  and  machines,  means  of  exchange  —  into  social  owner- 
ship, and  the  substitution  of  socialist  production,  carried  on 
by  and  for  society  in  the  place  of  the  present  production  of 
commodities  of  exchange,  can  effect  such  a  revolution  that, 
instead  of  the  large  industries  and  the  steadily  growing 
capacities  of  common  production  being,  as  hitherto,  a  source 
of  misery  and  oppression  to  the  classes  whom  they  have 
despoiled,  they  may  become  a  source  of  the  highest  well- 
being  and  of  perfect  harmony.  The  German  Social  Demo- 
crats are  not,  therefore,  fighting  for  new  class  privileges  and 
rights,  but  for  the  abolition  of  class  government  and  even 
of  classes  themselves,  and  for  universal  equality  in    rights 


THE   GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM  355 

and  duties,  without  distinction  of  sex  or  rank.  Holding 
these  views,  they  are  fighting  not  merely  against  the  exploi- 
tation and  oppression  of  the  wage-earners  in  the  existing 
social  order,  but  against  every  kind  of  exploitation  and  op- 
pression, whether  directed  against  class,  party,  sex,  or  race." 
The  more  specific  demands  of  the  German  Social  Demo- 
crats comprise  the  following :  — 

1.  Universal,  equal,  and  direct  suffrage  by  ballot  in  all 
elections  for  all  subjects  of  the  Empire  over  twenty  years 
of  age,  without  distinction  of  sex;  proportional  representa- 
tion;  biennial  elections  to  the  Reichstag. 

2.  Direct  legislation  by  the  people  through  the  use  of  the 
right  of  initiative  and  of  veto ;  self-government  by  the  people 
in  Empire,  state,  province,  and  commune;  an  annual  vote 
of  taxes. 

3.  Universal  military  education;  substitution  of  a  militia 
for  a  standing  army ;  decision  of  questions  of  peace  and  war 
by  the  Reichstag;  decision  of  all  international  disputes  by 
arbitration. 

4.  Abolition  of  all  laws  that  restrict  freedom  of  speech 
and  the  right  of  public  assembly. 

5.  Abolition  of  all  laws  that  put  women,  whether  in  a 
private  or  public  capacity,  at  a  disadvantage  in  comparison 
with  men. 

6.  Declaration  that  religion  is  a  private  matter;  aboli- 
tion of  all  expenditure  of  public  funds  for  ecclesiastical  pur- 
poses. 

7.  Secularization  of  education;  compulsory  attendance 
at  public  schools ;  free  education,  free  supply  of  educational 
apparatus,  and  free  maintenance  of  children  in  schools  and 
of  such  students  in  higher  institutions  as  prove  themselves 
fitted  for  higher  education. 

8.  Free  administration  of  the  law  by  judges  elected  by  the 
people;  compensation  to  persons  unjustly  accused,  impris- 
oned, or  condemned;    abolition  of  capital  punishment. 


356    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

9.  Income,  property,  and  inheritance  taxes  to  meet  all 
public  expenses  that  are  to  be  met  by  taxation ;  abolition  of 
all  indirect  taxation,  customs  duties,  and  other  measures 
which  sacrifice  the  interests  of  the  people  at  large  to  those 
of  a  small  minority. 

10.  A  national  system  of  protection  of  labor  on  the  basis 
of  a  working  day  of  not  more  than  eight  hours,  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  employment  of  children  under  fourteen  years  of 
age,  and  the  prohibition  of  night  work,  except  where  abso- 
lutely necessary ;  supervision  of  all  industrial  establishments 
and  regulation  of  the  conditions  of  labor  by  government 
departments  and  bureaus;  confirmation  of  the  rights  of 
laboring  men  to  form  organizations. 

During  the  past  half-century  the  progress  of  organized 
socialism  in  most  of  the  important  countries  of  Europe  has 
been  rapid.  Almost  universally  the  influence  of  the  German 
Social  Democracy  has  been  powerful,  and  it  is  not  necessary 
to  describe  here  the  various  systems  that  have  been  brought 
into  existence.  The  history  of  socialism  in  France  since 
1 87 1  has  been  especially  stormy.  During  the  seventies 
socialistic  effort  was  directed  chiefly  toward  the  influencing 
of  the  trade-unions  to  declare  for  socialism.  In  1879  the 
general  trade-union  congress  at  Marseilles  took  the  desired 
step,  but  in  the  congress  of  the  following  year  at  Havre  there 
arose  a  schism  between  the  "  collectivists "  and  the  "  co- 
opera  tivists  "  which  in  reality  has  never  been  healed.  During 
the  eighties  and  nineties  the  process  of  disintegration  con- 
tinued, and  there  came  to  be  a  half-dozen  socialist  parties, 
besides  numerous  local  groups  of  independents.  During 
the  years  1 898-1 901  continued  effort  was  made  to  bring 
the  various  socialist  elements  into  some  sort  of  union,  and 
in  1900  a  national  congress  of  all  French  socialist  parties 
and  organizations  was  held  at  Paris.  An  incident  of  the 
Dreyfus  controversy  was  the  elevation  of  an  independent 
socialist,  Etienne  Millerand,  to   a  portfolio  in  the  ministry 


THE  GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM  357 

of  Waldeck-Rousseau,  and  this  event  became  the  occasion 
of  a  new  socialist  breach.  The  Parti  Socialist  Francais, 
led  by  the  eloquent  Jaures,  approved  Millerand's  oppor- 
tunism; the  Parti  Socialist  de  France  opposed.  In  1905, 
however,  these  two  bodies  were  amalgamated  in  the  Parti 
Socialist  of  the  present  day,  with  a  programme  which  calls 
for  the  socializing  of  the  means  of  production  and  exchange, 
i.e.,  the  transforming  of  the  capitalistic  organization  of 
society  into  a  collectivist  or  communistic  organization. 
The  means  by  which  the  party  proposes  to  bring  about  the 
transformation  is  the  industrial  and  political  organization 
of  the  working-classes.  In  respect  to  its  aim,  its  ideals,  and 
its  means,  the  French  Socialist  party,  while  ready  to  support 
the  immediate  reforms  demanded  by  laboring  people,  is  to 
a  greater  degree  than  the  German  Social  Democracy  a  party 
of  class  struggle  and  revolution.  In  1885,  when  the  French 
socialists  waged  their  first  campaign  in  a  parliamentary 
election,  the  aggregate  number  of  socialist  votes  was  but 
30,000.  By  1889  the  number  had  been  increased  to  120,000, 
by  1898  to  700,000;  and  by  1906  to  1,000,000.  At  the 
election  of  1910  the  popular  vote  was  increased  by  200,000, 
and  the  number  of  socialist  deputies  was  raised  from  54  to  77. 
The  modern  socialist  movement  in  Great  Britain  dates 
from  the  organization  of  the  Democratic  Federation  in  1881, 
or,  perhaps  more  properly,  from  the  reconstitution  of  that 
organization  under  the  name  of  the  Social  Democratic 
Federation  in  1883.  The  Federation  has  had  an  uneventful 
history.  In  1900  it  was  associated  with  other  bodies  in  the 
formation  of  the  Labor  Representation  Committee,  but,  on 
the  ground  that  it  could  not  work  with  non-socialists,  it 
early  withdrew  from  that  affiliation.  Under  the  name  of 
the  Social  Democratic  party  it  has  undertaken  parliamentary 
candidatures  at  recent  elections  upon  its  own  account,  but 
without  success.  The  Independent  Labor  party,  founded 
in   1893   by   Kier  Hardie,  adopted  a   broader  programme 


358    SOCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

than  that  of  the  Federation,  but  it  likewise  failed  to  appeal 
effectively  to  the  mass  of  Englishmen,  and  in  late  years  it  has 
worked  with  the  non-socialist  Labor  party.  Besides  these 
two  parties,  the  socialist  movement  is  represented  in  Great 
Britain  by  the  Fabian  Society,  organized  in  1883  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  on,  especially  among  the  middle  and 
upper  classes,  an  educational  propaganda  in  behalf  of  so- 
cialistic doctrine.  This  society  has  published  a  multitude 
of  well-written  tracts  upon  the  principal  aspects  of  theo- 
retical socialism,  and  it  has  achieved  considerable  success  in 
the  domain  of  municipal  reform.  It  is  affiliated  with  the 
Labor  party,  but  includes  in  its  membership  many  Liberals. 
That  the  numerical  strength  of  British  socialism  is  still 
inconsiderable  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  total  member- 
ship of  the  Social  Democratic  party  in  191 1  was  approxi- 
mately 18,000;  that  of  the  Independent  Labor  party, 
60,000;  and  that  of  the  Fabian  Society,  2664.  Late  in  191 1 
steps  were  taken  to  bring  about  an  amalgamation  of  the 
several  socialist  groups  in  a  British  Socialist  party.  The 
outcome  of  the  project,  however,  is  as  yet  uncertain. 

By  reason  principally  of  the  industrial  backwardness  of 
Austria-Hungary  and  the  difficulty  of  carrying  on  propa- 
ganda among  her  heterogeneous  nationalities,  the  develop- 
ment of  socialism  in  the  Dual  Monarchy  has  been  consider- 
ably slower  than  in  Germany  or  France.  The  official  ban 
against  socialist  agitation  was  lifted  in  1869,  but  it  was  not 
before  the  Hainsfeld  congress  of  1888,  which  marked  the 
final  victory  of  social  democracy  over  anarchism  in  the 
Austrian  labor  movement,  that  a  coordinated  socialist  prop- 
aganda can  be  said  to  have  been  instituted.  Upon  the 
occasion  mentioned,  there  was  established  a  United  Socialist 
party,  but  in  time  it  was  found  expedient  to  break  up  this 
organization  into  six  self-supporting  parties  corresponding 
to  the  principal  racial  groups,  i.e.,  Germans,  Bohemians, 
Poles,   Russians,   Italians,   and   Southern    Slavs.     Each   of 


THE   GROWTH  OF  SOCIALISM  359 

these  parties  is  independent  in  respect  to  organization  and 
agitation,  but  all  are  agreed  upon  general  principles  and 
tactics,  which  are  arranged  in  a  common  congress  every 
two  years.  The  most  effective  of  the  six  parties  is  that  of 
Bohemia.  It  includes  2500  branches  and  120,000  members. 
At  the  elections  of  1907  —  the  first  since  the  establishment 
of  manhood  suffrage  —  the  aggregate  socialist  vote  in  Austria 
was  more  than  1,000,000,  and  the  number  of  deputies  elected 
to  the  Reichsrat  was  87.  At  the  elections  of  1911,  80  deputies 
were  returned,  including  44  Germans,  26  Czechs,  7  Poles, 
and  3  Italians.  In  Hungary  no  political  organization  of 
socialists  is  permitted,  but  practically  every  trade-unionist 
is  a  socialist  at  heart,  and  the  number  of  such  is  not  under 
130,000. 

In  Italy  the  socialist  movement  antedates  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  When,  however,  the  International 
collapsed,  in  consequence  of  the  schism  between  the  ad- 
herents of  Marx  and  Bakounin,  Italian  socialists  very 
generally  went  over  to  the  side  of  anarchism,  and  although 
socialist  political  activity  began  as  early  as  1882,  it  was  not 
until  1892  that  there  was  organized  a  national  socialist 
party  similar  to  the  socialist  parties  of  neighboring  countries. 
With  the  definite  casting  off  of  the  incubus  of  anarchism, 
the  socialist  movement  entered  upon  a  substantial  advance, 
and  by  1903  there  were  1200  local  groups  with  42,000  mem- 
bers, and  these  were  represented  by  32  deputies  in  the 
national  parliament.  Since  1903  growth  has  been  rapid, 
especially  among  the  agricultural  portions  of  the  population. 
The  quota  of  socialist  deputies  is  now  44. 

Socialism  in  Holland  and  Belgium  had  its  origin  in  the 
International,  but  the  first  political  organization  of  the 
movement  in  the  former  country  was  effected  in  1878  and 
in  the  latter  in  1885.  The  Dutch  Social  Democratic  Union 
made  slight  headway  until,  in  1893,  its  anarchistic  wing  with- 
drew entirely  from  it.     Thereafter  it  grew  more    rapidly, 


360    SOCIAL    PROGRESS  IN   CONTEMPORARY  EUROPE 

although  its  membership  to-day  does  not  exceed  10,000. 
In  Belgium  the  Socialist  Labor  party  of  1885  cast,  at  the 
elections  of  1906,  a  total  of  469,094  votes.  The  more  imme- 
diate object  of  contention  has  been  the  abolition  of  the  exist- 
ing scheme  of  plural  suffrage;  and  important  results  have 
been  attained  in  cooperative  enterprise,  notably  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Vooruit  established  at  Ghent  in  1880  and  the 
Maison  du  Peuple  founded  in  Brussels  in  1884.  The  present 
socialist  organization  of  Denmark,  the  Social  Democratic 
Union,  dates  from  1878.  In  1906  the  socialists  cast  77,000 
votes  and  elected  24  members  of  the  upper,  and  4  of  the 
lower,  legislative  chamber.  At  the  elections  of  1909  the 
party  polled  one-third  of  the  votes  cast  and  increased  its 
previous  aggregate  by  18,000,  although  the  system  of  seat 
distribution  precluded  them  from  adding  to  their  parlia- 
mentary contingent.  The  Socialist  party  of  Sweden, 
organized  in  1887,  polled  in  1905  30,000  votes,  electing  15 
representatives.  At  the  elections  of  191 1  it  increased  its 
parliamentary  strength  from  37  to  56.  The  Norwegian 
Socialist  party,  dating  also  from  1887,  polled  in  1906  about 
45,000  votes  and  elected  10  deputies.  In  Switzerland  social- 
ism, connected  originally  with  the  International,  is  organized 
to-day  on  Marxian  lines.  Identified  with  the  party  are 
most  of  the  trade-unions  and  other  labor  organizations.  Its 
voting  strength  in  1906  was  70,000,  and  seven  socialists 
at  present  have  seats  on  the  National  Council. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


The  literature  of  the  subjects  touched  upon  in  this  book  is,  in  most  in- 
stances, voluminous.  The  titles  which  appear  in  the  following  list  have  been 
selected  principally  from  the  more  authoritative  of  recent  publications. 

The  general  history  of  Europe  since  1789  is  covered  in  detail 
in  two  important  cooperative  works: 

Ward,  A.  W.,  Prothero,  G.  W.,  and  Leathes,  S.  (eds.),  The 
Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vols.  VIII-XII  (New  York, 
1907-1910). 

Lavisse,  E.,  et  Rambaud,  A.,  Histoire  Generate  du  IVe  Siecle  a, 
nos  Jours.,  Vols.  VIII-XII  (Paris,  1893-1901). 

Useful  briefer  treatises  are: 

Hazen,  C.  H.,  Europe  since  181 5  (New  York,  19 10). 
Robinson,  J.  H.,  and  Beard,  C.  A.,  The  Development  of  Modern 

Europe,  2  vols.  (Boston,  1908). 
Seignobos,  C,  A  Political  History  of  Europe  since  1814.     Trans. 

ed.  by  S.  M.  Macvane  (New  York,  1907). 
Phillips,  W.  A.,  Modern  Europe,  1815-1899  (5th  ed.,  London, 

1908). 
Fyffe,  C.  A.,  A  History  of  Modern  Europe,  3  vols.   (London, 

1880). 
Jeffery,  R.  W.,  The  New  Europe,  1 789-1 889  (Boston,  191 1). 
Andrews,  C.  M.,  The  Historical  Development  of  Modern  Europe, 

2  vols.  (New  York,  1 896-1 898). 
Andrews,  C.  M.,  Contemporary  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  1871- 

1901  (Philadelphia,  1902).     History  of  All  Nations,  Vol.  XX. 

Books  of  a  popular  character  in  which  are  sketched  the  salient 
aspects  of  nineteenth-century  development  include: 

Gibbins,  H.  de  B.,  Economic  and  Industrial  Progress  of  the 

Century  (London,  1901). 
Cochrane,  C.  H.,  Modern  Industrial  Progress  (Philadelphia,  1904). 
Mulhall,  M.  G.,  The  Progress  of  the  World  since  the  Beginning 

of  the  Nineteenth  Century  (London,  1880). 
Wallace,  A.  R.,  The  Wonderful  Century:  its  Successes  and  its 

Failures  (New  York,  1898). 

361 


362  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Wallace,  A.  R.,  et  al.,  The  Progress  of  the  Century  (New  York, 

iqoi). 
Smart,  W.,  The  Economic  Annals  of  the  Nineteenth  Century 

(London,  1909). 

General  treatises  on  social  progress  include: 

Loch,  C.  S.,  Methods  of  Social  Advance  (New  York,  1904). 
Watson,  D.,  Social  Advance,  its  Meaning,  Method,  and  Goal 

(London,  191 1). 
Mackay,  T.,  Methods  of  Social  Reform  (London,  1896). 
Rostand,  E.,  L'action  sociale  par  l'initiative  privee,  2  vols.  (Paris, 

1892). 
Nearing,  S.,  Social  Adjustment  (New  York,  191 1). 
Willoughby,  W.  W.,   Social  Justice.     A   Critical  Essay   (New 

York,  1900). 
Ward,  L.  F.,  Applied  Sociology  (Boston,  1906). 
Graham,  W.,  The  Social  Problem  in  its  Economical,  Moral,  and 

Political  Aspects  (London,  1886). 
Hobson,  J.  A.,  The  Social  Problem  (New  York,  1902). 
Harley,  J.  H.,  The  New  Social  Democracy  (London,  1911). 
Jones,  H.,  The  Working  Faith  of  the  Social  Reformer,  and  Other 

Essays  (London,  1910). 
Jenks,   J.  W.,  Governmental   Action   for  Social  Welfare   (New 

York,  1 9 10). 
Ely,  R.  T.,  Studies  in  the  Evolution  of  Industrial  Society  (New 

York,  1903). 
Hobhouse,  L.  T,  Liberalism  (London  and  New  York,  191 1). 
Bliss,  W.  D.  P.,  The  New  Encyclopaedia  of  Social  Reform  (New 

York,  1908). 

Chapter  II.  The  Eighteenth-century  Background 

Cheyney,  E.  P.,  The  European  Background  of  American  History 
(New  York,  1904). 

Hassall,  A.,  The  Balance  of  Power,  1715-1789  (London,  1907). 

Perkins,  J.  B.,  France  under  Louis  XV.,  2  vols.  (Boston,  1897). 

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37° 


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Lee,  W.  H.,  The  Great  Strike  Movement  of  191 1  and  its  Lessons 
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Hardie,  J.  K.,  The  British  Labor  Party  (International  Socialist 
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Geldart,  W.  M.,  Trade  Unions  and  Parliamentary  Representa- 
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Osborne,  W.  V.,  My  Case:  the  Cause  and  Effect  of  the  Osborne 
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Macdonald,  J.  R.,  The  Osborne  Judgment  and  Trade  Unions 
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Kritsky,  M.,  L'evolution  du  syndicalisme  en  France  (Paris, 
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Leroy,  M.,  Syndicats  et  services  publics  (Paris,  1909). 

Hanotaux,  G.,  La  democratie  et  le  travail  (Paris,  1910). 

Bour,  H.,  Le  syndicalisme  ouvrier  (Paris,  1910). 

Louis,  P.,  Le  syndicalisme  contre  l'etat  (Paris,  1910). 

Zevaes,  A.,  Le  syndicahsme  contemporain  (Paris,  1911). 

Paul,  L.,  Histoire  du  mouvement  syndical  en  France,  1789-1810 
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Acht,  A.,  Der  Moderne  Franzosische  Syndikalismus  (Jena,  191 1). 

Levine,  L.,  The  Labor  Movement  in  France  (New  York,  191 1). 

Clay,  A.,  Syndicalism  and  Labor  (New  York,  191 2). 

Tavernier,  E.,  The  French  Strikes  and  the  Confederation  Gene- 
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Holyoake,  G.  J.,  The  History  of  the  Rochdale  Pioneers  (rev. 
ed.,  London,  1900). 

Holyoake,  G.  J.,  The  History  of  Cooperation,  2  vols.  (rev.  ed., 
London,  1908). 

Webb,  C.  (ed.),  Industrial  Cooperation,  a  Peaceful  Revolution 
(4th  ed.,  Manchester,  19 10). 

Potter,  B.,  The  Cooperative  Movement  in  Great  Britain  (Lon- 
don, 1898). 

Pratt,  E.  A.,  The  Organization  of  Agriculture  (London,  1904). 

Cernesson,  J.,  Les  societes  cooperatives  anglaises  (Paris,  1905). 

Fay,  C.  R.,  Cooperation  at  Home  and  Abroad  (London,  1908). 

Jones,  B.,  Cooperative  Production,  2  vols.  (Oxford,  1894). 

Gide,  C,  Les  societes  cooperatives  de  la  consommation  (Paris, 
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Lucas,  L.,  Des  cooperatives  agricoles  en  France  (Bordeaux,  1908). 

Gorju,  C,  L'evolution  cooperative  en  France  (Paris,  191 1). 

Bertrand,  L.,  Histoire  de  la  cooperation  en  Belgique  (Brussels, 

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Neilson,  A.,  Le  mouvement  cooperatif  Danemark  (Copenhagen, 

1910). 
Gilman,  N.  P.,  A  Dividend  to  Labour.     A  Study  of  Employers' 

Welfare  Institutions  (Boston,  1899). 

Chapter  XX.   Wages  and  Savings 
Rogers,  J.  E.  T.,  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages  (London, 


Bowley,  A.  L.,  Wages  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  the  Nineteenth 
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the  Past  Hundred  Years  (London,  19 10). 

Chapman,  S.  J.,  Work  and  Wages  (London,  1908). 

Thery,  E.,  L'Europe  economique  (Paris,  191 1). 

Scaife,  W.  B.,  Work  and  Wages  in  France  (Forum,  September, 
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Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  88  (Washington,  1910). 

United  States,  The  Cost  of  Living  of  Families  of  Moderate  In- 
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LTnited  States,  Reports  of  British  Board  of  Trade  on  Cost  of  Liv- 
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37S  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

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(Washington,  191 1). 
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Gilman,  N.  P.,  Profit  Sharing  between  Employer  and  Employee 

(Boston,  1900). 
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1902). 
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1904). 

Chapter  XXI.   Pubiic  Education 

Monroe,  W.  S.,  Bibliography  of  Education  (New  York,  1897). 
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Klemm,  L.  R.,  European  Schools  (New  York,  1901). 

Davidson,  T.  A.,  A  History  of  Education  (New  YTork,  1901). 

Greenough,  J.  C.,  The  Evolution  of  the  Elementary  Schools  of 
Great  Britain  (New  York,  1903). 

Craik,  H,  The  State  in  its  Relation  to  Education  (London,  1884). 

Sharpless,  I.,  English  Education  in  the  Eelmentary  and  Second- 
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Balfour,  G.,  Educational  Systems  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
(Oxford,  1898). 

Sadler,  M.  E.,  Moral  Instruction  and  Training  in  Schools,  2 
vols.  (London,  1908). 

Davies,  J.  L.,  The  Workingmen's  College  (London,  1904). 

Russell,  J.  E.,  German  Higher  Schools;  the  History,  Organi- 
zation, and  Methods  of  Secondary  Education  in  Germany 
(New  York,  1899). 

Blondel,  G.,  L'education  economique  du  peuple  allemand  (Paris, 
1908). 

United  States,  Industrial  Education  and  Industrial  Conditions  in 
Germany.  Special  Consular  Reports,  Vol.  XXXIII  (Washing- 
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Sabatier,  P.,  Disestablishment  in  France.  Trans,  by  R.  Dell 
(New  York,  1906). 

Chapter  XXII.  The  Growth  of  Socialism 

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Bax,  E.  B.,  and  Morris,  W.,  Socialism,  Its  Growth  and  Out- 
come (2d  ed.,  London,  1896). 

Macdonald,  J.  R.,  The  Socialist  Movement  (London  and  New 
York,  191 1). 

Laveleye,  E.  de,  The  Socialism  of  To-day.  Trans,  by  G.  H. 
Orpen  (London,  1885). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


379 


Kirkup,  T.,  History  of  Socialism  (new  ed.,  London,  1900). 

Seilhac,  L.  de,  Le  monde  socialiste  (Paris,  1904). 

Schaeffle,  A.  E.  F.,  The  Quintessence  of  Socialism.  Trans, 
from  8th  German  ed.  by  B.  Bosanquet  (London,  1908). 

Schaeffle,  A.  E.  F.,  The  Impossibility  of  Social  Democracy. 
Trans,  by  B.  Bosanquet  (London,  1892). 

Rae,  J.,  Contemporary  Socialism  (London,  1891). 

Bourdeau,  J.,  L'evolution  du  socialisme  (Paris,  1901). 

Jaures,  J.,  Studies  in  Socialism.  Trans,  by  M.  Minturn  (New 
York,  1906). 

Leroy-Beaulieu,  P.  P.,  Collectivism.  A  Study  of  Some  of  the 
Leading  Social  Questions  of  the  Day.  Trans,  and  abridged  by 
A.  Clay  (London,  1908). 

Hillquit,  M.,  Socialism  in  Theory  and  Practice  (New  York,  1909). 

Mallock,  W.  H.,  A  Critical  Examination  of  Socialism  (New 
.  York,  1907). 

Sombart,  W.,  Socialism  and  the  Social  Movement.  Trans,  from 
6th  German  ed.  by  M.  Epstein  (New  York,  1909). 

Leroy-Beaulieu,  M.  A.,  ct  al.,  Le  socialisme  a  l'etranger  (Paris, 
1909). 

Taylor,  G.  R.  S.,  Leaders  of  Socialism,  Past  and  Present  (London, 
1910). 

Raine,  G.  E.,  Present-Day  Socialism  and  the  Problem  of  the  Un- 
employed (London,  1908). 

Kelly,  E.,  Twentieth  Century  Socialism  (New  York,  1910). 

Walling,  W.  E.,  Socialism  As  It  Is.  A  Survey  of  the  World-Wide 
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Ely,  R.  T.,  Socialism  and  Social  Reform  (New  York,  1894). 

Tugan-Baranovsky,  M.,  Modern  Socialism  in  its  Historical 
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Stoddart,  J.  T.,  The  New  Socialism:  an  Impartial  Inquiry  (Lon- 
don, 1910). 

Harley,  J.  H.,  The  New  Social  Democracy  (London,  191 1). 

Braibant,  M.,  Le  socialisme  et  l'activite  economique  (Paris, 
1911). 

Lagardelle,  H.,  Le  socialisme  ouvrier  (Paris,  191 1). 

Le  Rossignol,  J.  E.,  Orthodox  Socialism,  a  Criticism  (New  York, 
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Skelton,  O.  D.,  Socialism,  a  Critical  Analysis  (Boston,  1912). 

Guthrie,  W.  B.,  Socialism  before  the  French  Revolution  (New 
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Peixotto,  J.,  The  French  Revolution  and  Modern  French  Social- 
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Ely,  R.  T.,  French  and  German  Socialism  in  Modern  Times 
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Booth,  A.  J.,  Saint-Simon  and  Saint-Simonism  (London,  1871). 


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Louis,  P.,  Histoire  du  socialisme  francais  (Paris,  1901). 

Spargo,  J.,  Karl  Marx:   his  Life  and  Work  (New  York,  1010). 

Marx,  K.,  Capital.     A  Critical  Analysis  of  Capitalist  Production. 
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Dawson,  W.  H.,  German  Socialism  and  Ferdinand  Lassalle  (Lon- 
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Dawson,  W.  H.,  Bismarck  and  State  Socialism  (London,  1891). 

Brandes,  G.,  Ferdinand  Lassalle  (New  York,  191 1). 

Bernstein,  E.,  Ferdinand  Lassalle  as  a  Social  Reformer.     Trans, 
by  E.  Aveling  (London,  1893). 

Villetard  de  Pruniers,  E.,  Histoire  dc  Tinternationale  (Paris, 
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Adler,  G.,  The  Evolution  of    the  Socialist  Programme  in  Ger- 
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Bernstein,   E.,   Social   Democracy  in   Germany   (International 
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Bernstein,  E.,  Evolutionary  Socialism:  A  Criticism  and  Affirma- 
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York,  1875). 


INDEX 


Accidents,  insurance  against  in  Ger- 
many, 260-261 ;  provision  regarding 
in  Great  Britain,  266-268 ;  insurance 
against  in  France,  280;  provisions 
in  other  continental  countries,  283- 
2g2. 

Agriculture,  in  eighteenth  century,  14 ; 
in  France,  23-29;  in  England  in 
eighteenth  century,  64-68;  revolu- 
tion in  England,  70-78;  depres- 
sion, 78 ;  legislation  upon,  70-82  ; 
advance  in  France,  100-101 ;  ad- 
vance in  Germany,  103-106 ;  ad- 
vance in  Russia,  106-110. 

Arkwright,  Richard,  inventor  of 
"water-frame,"  87. 

Austria-Hungary,  political  develop- 
ment in  nineteenth  century,  188— 
191 ;  electoral  reform  in  Austria, 
192-193 ;  electoral  problems  in 
Hungary,  193-195  ;  social  insurance, 
283-285 ;   socialism,  358-359. 

Babceuf,  Francois  Noel,  socialistic 
doctrines,  341-342. 

Balkan  states,  establishment,  199. 

Belgium,  franchise,  168—170;  social 
insurance,  285-287. 

Bismarck,  Count  von,  programme  of  so- 
cial insurance,  254-262 ;  repression 
of  socialism,  351-353- 

Blanc,  Louis,  socialistic  doctrines,  345- 
347- 

Cartwright,  Edward,  inventor  of  power- 
loom,  88. 

Chamber  of  Deputies  (France),  elec- 
tion, 181. 

Chartism,  origins,  141 ;  demands,  142  ; 
petitions  and  demonstrations,  143— 
147. 

Christian  Socialism,  348. 

Church,  in  eighteenth  century,  11-12; 
in  France,  21-22;  changes  intro- 
duced by  National  Assembly,  41-43  ; 
changes  by  Napoleon,  53-55. 

38 


Civil  Constitution  of  the  Clergy 
(France),  42. 

Cobbett,  William,  advocate  of  liberal- 
ism, 129. 

Code  Napoleon,  51. 

Cologne,  unemployment  insurance  in, 

253- 

Commerce,  in  eighteenth  century, 
13-14;  free  trade  in  Great  Britain, 
122;  French  protectionism,  123; 
German  protectionism,  123-124. 

Concordat  of  1801,  42-43,  54. 

Constitution  of  the  Year  III,  45. 

Constitution  of  the  Year  VIII,  45. 

Cooperation,  in  Great  Britain,  305- 
306 ;  on  the  continent,  307. 

Cost  of  living,  in  Great  Britain,  Ger- 
many, and  France,  312-316. 

Crompton,  Samuel,  inventor  of  the 
"mule-jenny,"  88. 

Declaration  of  Rights  of  Man,  adopted 

by  French  National  Assembly,  37 ; 

contents,  38-39. 
Denmark,   franchise,    1 70-1 71;    social 

insurance,  288—289. 
Domestic  system,  in  England,  64-66; 

in  Russia,  121. 

Education,  in  France  under  Napoleon, 
52_53;  reform  in  Prussia,  59;  in 
contemporary  Germany,  248—249 ; 
development  in  Great  Britain,  326- 
333 ;  in  France,  334. 

Electoral  reform,  in  Great  Britain,  154- 
159;  in  Prussia,  162-165 ;  in  France, 
182  ;  in  Hungary,  193-195. 

Enclosure,  in  England,  73-77. 

England.    See  Great  Britain. 

Enlightened  despots,  9. 

Factory  system,  rise  in  England,  84- 
92 ;  nature,  93-99 ;  in  continental 
countries,  113-117. 

Fourier,  Charles,  socialistic  doctrines, 

344- 
France,  unification,  15,  43;    law  and 


382 


INDEX 


government,  16-18,  51 ;  population, 
18;  nobility,  19-21;  Church,  21-22, 
53-55 ;  bourgeoisie,  23  ;  peasantry, 
24-2g;  causes  of  Revolution,  30— 
34 ;  National  Assembly,  35 ;  Decla- 
ration of  Rights  of  Man,  37-39; 
changes  wrought  by  Revolution, 
39-45  ;  Napoleonic  era,  46-50 ;  edu- 
cation, 52-53;  agricultural  prog- 
ress, 100-101 ;  regulation  of  guilds, 
iio-ni;  industrial  revolution,  113- 
115;  commercial  policy,  123;  po- 
litical development,  174-180;  gov- 
ernmental system  to-day,  180-182; 
insurance  against  sickness,  279-280; 
insurance  against  occupational  acci- 
dents, 280;  old  age  pensions,  280- 
283 ;  cost  of  living,  312-323  ;  rise  of 
socialism,  340-347,  356-357- 
Franchise,  in  England  prior  to  1832, 
130-135;  under  Reform  Act  of 
1867,  149-150;  extension  in  1884, 
151 ;  electoral  questions  to-day,  154- 
159;  in  Prussia,  162-165;  in  Ger- 
man Empire,  165-166;  in  Holland, 
168;  in  Belgium,  169-170;  in  Scan- 
dinavian countries,  170-173;  in 
France  during  nineteenth  century, 
176-180;  in  France  to-day,  181-182  ; 
in  Italy,  184-185;  in  Spain,  186; 
in  Portugal,  187;  in  Austria,  191- 
193;  in  Hungary,  193-195. 

Garden  Cities,  in  Great  Britain,  244. 

Germany,  effects  of  French  Revolu- 
tion, 55  ;  end  of  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
57;  transformation  of  Prussia,  57- 
60;  agricultural  advance,  103-106; 
guilds,  111-112;  industrial  revolu- 
tion, 116-119;  commercial  policy, 
123-124;  popular  government,  160- 
162;  Prussian  electoral  system,  162- 
165;  Imperial  electoral  system,  165- 
166 ;  care  of  the  poor,  238-240 ;  edu- 
cation, 248-249;  provision  for  un- 
employment, 250—254;  Bismarck's 
insurance  programme,  254-257;  in- 
surance against  sickness,  accidents, 
and  invalidity  and  old  age,  258-262 ; 
trade-unions,  301-302;  wages,  310; 
cost  of  living,  312-316;  develop- 
ment of  socialism,  349-356. 


Gladstone,  William  E.,  reform  pro- 
gramme, 148,  150. 

Great  Britain,  economic  conditions  in 
eighteenth  century,  64-68;  rise  of 
capitalism,  69-70;  revolution  in 
agriculture,  70-73 ;  enclosures,  73- 
77  ;  agricultural  depression,  79-82  ; 
reasons  for  industrial  revolution, 
83-85  J  inventions,  84-92 ;  rise  of 
factory  system,  93-99;  commercial 
policy,  122;  political  condition  in 
eighteenth  century,  125-126;  the 
liberal  movement,  127-131;  fran- 
chise arrangements  prior  to  1832, 
130-135;  the  Reform  of  1832,  135- 
138;  Chartist  movement,  141-147; 
Reform  Act  of  1867,  147-150;  fran- 
chise extension  and  redistribution  of 
seats  in  1884-1885,  151-153;  elec- 
toral questions  to-day,  154-159; 
beginnings  of  labor  legislation,  217- 
220;  Factory  Act  of  1833,  220; 
later  labor  legislation,  221-225  ;  pooi- 
laws,  227—235;  housing  reform,  241- 
244 ;  workmen's  compensation  legis- 
lation, 266-268;  old  age  pensions, 
260—271;  sickness  insurance,  272- 
274;  insurance  against  unemploy- 
ment, 274-279;  rise  of  trade-unions, 
294-296 ;  trade-unions  and  labor 
parties,  297-301 ;  cooperation,  305- 
306;  cost  of  living,  312-316;  de- 
velopment of  education,  326-333 ; 
socialism,  347-348,  357~358- 

Guilds,  in  eighteenth  century,  12-13; 
during  Revolutionary  and  Napo- 
leonic era,  iio-ni;  in  Germany, 
ni-112. 

Hardenberg,  reforms,  59. 

Hargreaves,  James,  inventor  of  "spin- 
ning-jenny," 87. 

Holland,  annexed  to  France,  56;  gov- 
ernment, 167-16S;  social  insurance, 
287-288. 

Housing,  reform  in  Great  Britain,  241- 
244. 

Humboldt,  William  von,  educational 
reforms,  59. 

Independent  Labor  Party  (Great  Brit- 
ain), 297,  358. 


INDEX 


3*$ 


Industrial  revolution,  defined,  63 ; 
antecedent  conditions,  64-68;  agen- 
cies, 60-70 ;  inventions,  84-92  ;  rise 
of  factory  system,  93-94;  effects  of 
factory  system,  94-99;  in  France, 
113-115;  in  Germany,  116-119;  in 
Russia,  1 1 9-1 21. 

Initiative,  in  Switzerland,  201-212. 

Insurance,  in  Austria,  283-285 ;  in 
Belgium,  285-287  ;  in  Holland,  287- 
288;  in  Denmark,  288-289;  in 
Sweden  and  Norway,  280-290;  in 
Switzerland,  290 ;  in  Italy,  291-292  ; 
(France),  against  sickness,  279-280; 
against  accidents,  280;  against  old 
age,  280-283;  (Germany),  against 
unemployment,  253-254;  Bismarck's 
programme,  254-257;  against  sick- 
ness, 258-260 ;  against  accidents,  260- 
261 ;  against  old  age  and  invalidity, 
261-262 ;  (Great  Britain),  against 
old  age,  260-271;  against  sickness, 
272-274;  against  unemployment, 
274-279. 

International,  founded,  350. 

Inventions,  in  England,  84-92. 

Italy,  political  development  in  nine- 
teenth century,  182-184;  govern- 
mental system,  184-185 ;  social 
insurance,  291-292 ;  socialism,  359. 

Kay,  John,  inventor  of  "flying  shuttle,'' 
86. 

Labor,  legislation  in  Great  Britain, 
217-225;  regulation  in  continental 
countries,  226;  discontent  in  France, 
337-341 ;  rise  of  trade-unions, 
294-301 ;  trade-unions  on  the  con- 
tinent, 301-305;  and  socialism,  349— 
357- 

Labor  exchanges,  in  Germany,  250- 
254;  in  Great  Britain,  274—279. 

Labor  Party  (Great  Britain),  298. 

Laissez-faire,  216. 

Land  settlement,  in  England,  77. 

Lettres  de  cachet,  17. 

Marx,  Karl,   socialist  doctrines,  349- 

350. 
Mining,  regulation  in  Great  Britain, 

224-225. 


Napoleon,  attitude  toward  Revolution, 
46-48 ;  the  press,  50 ;  taxation,  5 1  ; 
education,  52-53;  the  Church,  53- 
55;  governmental  system,  177-178. 

National  Assembly  (France),  organ- 
ized, 35-36;  adopts  Declaration  of 
Rights  of  Man,  37. 

Norway,  franchise,  171-173. 

Old  Age  and  Invalidity,  insurance 
against  in  Germany,  261-262 ;  old 
age  pensions  in  Great  Britain,  269- 
271 ;  old  age  pensions  in  France, 
280-283 ;  provisions  in  other  conti- 
nental countries,  283-292. 

Osborne  Judgment,  300. 

Owen,  Robert,  and  cooperation,  347- 
348. 

Parliament  (Great  Britain),  composi- 
tion prior  to  1832,  131;  electoral 
system,  133-135 ;  the  Reform  Act 
of  1832,  135-138;  the  Reform  Act  of 
1867,  147-150;  franchise  extension 
and  redistribution  of  seats  in  1884- 
1885,  157-158;  electoral  questions 
to-day,  154-159. 

Peasantry,  in  eighteenth  century,  10; 
French,  24-29;  Prussian,  57-58; 
emancipation  in  Russia,  106-110. 

Poor,  early  provisions  for  care  of  in 
England,  227-230;  eighteenth  cen- 
tury legislation,  230-233;  the  Poor 
Law  of  1834,  233-235 ;  reports  of 
Poor  Law  Commission,  236-238; 
care  of  in  Germany,  238-240;  care 
of  in  France,  240. 

Poor  Law  Commission,  reports,  236- 
238,  275. 

Population,  of  Europe,  5-6 ;  of  France, 
18;  shift  northward  in  England,  95; 
of  Germany,  119. 

Portugal,  revolution  of  igio,  187. 

Press,  regulation  by  Napoleon,  50. 

Proudhon,  Pierre  Joseph,  socialist 
doctrines,  345. 

Prussia.    See  Germany. 

Referendum,  in  Switzerland,  201-212. 
Revolution,    French,    causes,    30-34; 

National  Assembly,  35-36;   changes 

wrought  by,  39~45- 


3»4 


INDEX 


Rochdale  Society,  305. 

Russell,  Lord  John,  introduces  Reform 
Bill,  135 ;  opposes  further  change, 
141. 

Russia,  emancipation  of  serfs,  106-110; 
industrial  revolution,  119-121;  po- 
litical development  in  nineteenth 
century,  195-198. 

Saint-Simon,  Henri  de,  socialist  doc- 
trines, 342-344. 

Sickness,  insurance  against,  in  Ger- 
many, 258-260;  in  Great  Britain, 
272-274;  in  France,  270-280;  in 
other  continental  countries,  283-292. 

Social  Democratic  Party  (Germany), 
origins,  351; growth,  353;  programme, 
354-356. 

Socialism,  defined,  341  ;  rise  in  France, 
341-342 ;  Saint- Simon,  342-343 ; 
Fourier,  344 ;  Blanc,  345-347 ;  in 
England,  347-349 ;  rise  in  Germany, 
349;  Marx  and  Engels,  347-348; 
Bismarck's  attempted  repression, 
35i_353;  later  development  in 
Germany,  353-356;  in  France,  356- 
357- 

Spain,  government,  186. 

States  General,  summoned,  30. 

Stein,  reform  measures,  58. 


Sweden,  franchise,  171 ;  social  insur- 
ance, 280-290. 

Switzerland,  revolutiom'zed  in  1798,  56, 
201 ;  Napoleon's  policy  regarding, 
201-202 ;  governmental  system  to- 
day, 203-204;  initiative  and  referen- 
dum, 205-212;  social  insurance,  240. 

Taff  Vale  Case,  299. 

Taxation,  under  the  Old  Regime,  25- 
27  ;  under  Napoleon,  51. 

Trade-unions,  beginnings  in  Great 
Britain,  294-296;  later  phases,  297- 
301 ;  in  Germany,  301-302 ;  in  other 
continental  countries,  302-305. 

Turkey,  revolution  of  1 908-1 909,  198. 

Unemployment,  provisions  against  in 
Germany,  250-254 ;  insurance  against 
in  Great  Britain,  274-279. 

Wages,  fluctuations  during  nineteenth 
century,  309-312. 

Watt,  James,  improvement  of  steam- 
engine,  90. 

Whitney,   Eli,  inventor  of  cotton-gin, 


Young,  Arthur,  quoted,  67-68. 


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